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A MEMOIR 



LADY COLQUHOUN 



BY 

JAMES HAMILTON, D.D. 

AUTHOR OF "LIFE IN EARNEST," "MOUNT OF OLIVES," "HARP ON 

THE WILLOWS," "THANKFULNESS," "LIFE OF HALL," 

AND "THE HAPPY HOME." 



NEW YORK: 

ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS, 
No. 285 BROADWAY 

1850. 



JSIV725 






PREFACE 



When the Editor was requested to compile this 
Memoir, he could not forget his scanty leisure, and 
his limited acquaintance with Lady Colquhoun. But 
the invitation of her family, the belief that a near rel- 
ative of his own, now no more, would have responded 
to it with all the eagerness of his fervent nature, and 
the hope that such a narrative might be blessed to 
the reproduction of similar characters, at length in- 
duced him to make the attempt. 

In the prosecution of his undertaking, the Compiler 
has felt both the lack and the excess of materials. 
To the affectionate diligence of a family who cannot 
revere too devotedly the memory of such a parent, 
and who have kindly put at his disposal all Remains 
and Recollections likely to illustrate her history, he is 
indebted for documents which might easily expand 
this memorial fourfold. On the other hand r many 
most valuable portions of her Ladyship's correspond- 



IV PREFACE. 

ence are gone beyond recall. One series of her let- 
ters perished in a conflagration ; another was lost at 
sea ; and many have disappeared as they passed into 
hands less careful than theirs who first received them. 
And, precious as is her Diary, having been kept for 
uses entirely personal, it contains few singular or ex- 
trinsic incidents. The difficulty of selection has been 
great. Many references are omitted which would 
have been peculiarly gratifying to relatives and 
friends ; and many passages, in themselves so edify- 
ing, that then* suppression caused a pang at the mo- 
ment, and still leaves a misgiving. But, in a printed 
book, as in a public address, the writer well knows 
that the most venial fault is brevity ; and his only 
grief will be, if, in trying to earn that pleasant cen- 
sure, he has failed to do justice to one whose rare ex- 
cellence merited a copious record and a more skilful 
biographer. 

London, August 10, 1849. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Sir John Sinclair — Thurso Castle — Lady Janet Sinclair 
— Nurse Morris — Stoke Newington — The Sisters — 
Dr. Walter Buchanan, and Wilberforce's "Practical 
View" ....... 7 



CHAPTER n. 

Rossdhu and Loch Lomond — Sir James Colquhoun — Dr. 
Stuart, of Luss — Aristocratic Society in Scotland long 
ago — Commencement of the Diary — A Mother's Leg- 
acy . . . . . . .28 

CHAPTER m. 

Death of Miss Hannah Sinclair — Luss and Arrochar 
Bible Society— The Poor of Scotland Thirty Years 
ago — Nelly — " Despair and Hope" — Bell Macintyre — 
Tract Distribution— The School of Industry— The Sab- 
bath School — " Kii-kings" — The Diary — Dr. Alex. 
Stewart — Mr. Legh Richmond — Dr. Chalmers — Miss 
Jane Farrell . . . . . .11 



VI CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IV. 

PAGE 

Publications — "Impressions of the Heart" — Dr. Colqu- 
houn, of Leith — Dr. Hamilton, of Strathblane — Dr. 
Malan — A Daughter's Marriage — First Visit to Brigh- 
ton — The Pavilion and the Sabbath — "Be not far off; 
for Grief is near" — The Illness and Death of Sir John 
Sinclair and Sir James Colquhoun . . . 143 

CHAPTER V. 

" Thy Maker is thy Husband" — Class for grown-up Girls 
— Lady Colquhoun's Talent in Expounding Scripture 
— Visits to Suffolk — Labors amongst the Cottagers of 
Stutton and the Inhabitants of Thistle-street — Let- 
ters to Miss S. — Sunday Trains . . .200 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Disruption — The Free Church at Luss — Societies — 
Education in India — Irish Mission — Gaelic Schools — 
Making a Friend of the L^nrighteous Mammon — Piety 
at Home — Servants — Diary concluded — Death of her 
Daughter-in-law and Lady Sinclair . . .233 

CHAPTER VII. 

Sunset in Autumn — Waiting for Spring . . . 268 



CHAPTER I. 



O SATISFY US EARLY TYITH THY MERCY; THAT WE MAY 
BEJOTCE AND BE GLAD ALL OLR DAYS. PSALM XC. 14. 



I do remember them, their pleasant brows 
So marked with pure affections, and the glance 
Of their mild eyes, when, in the house of God, 
They gather"d up the manna that did fall 
Like dew around. 

MRS. SIGOURNEY. 



To few of her sons is Scotland more indebted 
than to the late Sir John Sinclair, of Ulbster. 
Entering into active life at an early age, for 
sixty busy years he was constantly spending in 
the service of his neighbors and his country 
excellent talents and a good estate. Whilst 
yet a lad at college he gave earnest of that 
passion for improvement, and that dauntless 
enterprise, which distinguished him through 
life. Among its many wants, his native Caith- 



8 LIFE OF LADY C0LQUH0UN. 

ness wanted roads, and it was in vain that Mr. 
Sinclair urged his brother landowners to supply 
the deficiency. There was a steep hill, called 
Ben Cheilt, which ran right through the county, 
and as an objection to the turnpike, at once 
witty and fatal, it was always asked, " When 
will you show us a road over Ben Cheilt?" 
But one summer morning, having beforehand 
provided great store of implements, the young 
laird mustered on the spot 1200 laborers, and 
ere nightfall a good carriage-way was thrown 
over this terrible mountain. And much of his 
subsequent career was the same exploit re- 
peated. In every undertaking he knew that 
he must look for a Ben Cheilt, — a Hill Diffi- 
culty, on which all the timid and all the lazy 
would take their stand ; and he always sought 
to surmount it by some brilliant and conclusive 
operation. And by dint of his own heroic 
exertions, and by the aid of those friends whom 
his reputation and his systematic obligingness 
were perpetually acquiring, he accomplished 
many works of enormous labor and of more 
than national utility. Encouraged by the 
success of his schemes for improving the hus- 
bandry of his own ungenial realms, he founded 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 9 

that Board of Agriculture which has intro- 
duced a new era in the tillage of the empire, 
whilst his untiring labors have left his name 
associated with the productive fisheries and 
thriving sheep-farms of Scotland. The list of 
his publications fills thirty pages of print ; and 
if the themes be too various, and if fresh pro- 
jects succeed one another too rapidly, they 
show the industry of the student who could 
impart information on subjects so diverse, and 
the benevolence of the statesman whose only 
concern was to make other people rich and 
contented. His " Statistical Account of Scot- 
land"* is a trophy of his unconquerable energy 
and unwearied good-humor. It was a task for 
which, saving the engineer of Ben Cheilt, few 
would have had faith or perseverance suffi- 
cient. In order to compile it, he required 
answers to one hundred and sixty queries from 
nearly a thousand ministers. To many of his 
correspondents, such topics were strange or 
distasteful, and all of them encountered diffi- 
culties in the shyness, and sometimes in the 
superstition, of their natural informants. Ten- 
ants would not tell the produce of their farms 
* In twenty-one volumes, octavo. 



10 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

for fear that their rents should be raised, and 
Highland shepherds would not count their 
flocks, lest their vain curiosity should entail a 
judgment on the fleecy people. But, by a 
judicious admixture of coaxing and objurga- 
tion, the sanguine Baronet quickened the dili- 
gence of the ministers, and by patience and 
adroitness, the ministers elicited the essential 
facts from their over-cautious parishioners. 
One laid aside his Cicero and another his 
"Poli Synopsis" till he should complete his 
census of pigs, poultry, and milch-kine. Pro- 
fessor Cooper grew archaeological over the 
"Auld Wives' Lift" and Dr. Gibb waxed 
curious in acoustics :* in stately periods, worthy 
of a Scottish Johnson, Mr. Sheriff told how 
many pounds of clover, and how many firlots 
of rye-grass were sown, in order to procure a 
hundred stones of hay ; whilst the mellifluous 
cadence of Dr. Mackinlay lent new charms to 

* Witness the clever and well-bred echo at Mugdock Castle : 
" Opposite to this tower is heard a very extraordinary echo. 
It repeats any sentence of six syllables, in the exact tone, 
and with the very accent, in which it is uttered; waiting 
deliberately till the sentence is finished before it begins."— 
Stat Acct xviii. 579. 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 11 

printed calicoes, duffles, serges, and mancoes, 
and all fabrics which owed their glory to 
Kilmarnock and to " creelman's composition." 
When the mighty work was completed, no 
country possessed a survey of its internal re- 
sources so comprehensive, or local histories so 
minute, as were contained in its elaborate 
pages. It greatly helped to create the science 
of statistics, and to the Scottish antiquarian it 
is a record of ever-growing value. — When to 
such literary and economic toils, we add that 
in mellow age he could reckon two hundred 
of his countrymen who owed their w r orldly 
advancement to his friendly offices, and that 
he numbered among his friends and corres- 
pondents half the renowned names of Europe, 
we shall convey some idea of his wide ac- 
quaintance with his contemporaries, as well as 
a specimen of his ceaseless and kind-hearted 
activity.* 

When the heir of Ulbster was still young, full 

* For interesting memorials of Sir John Sinclair we are 
indebted to the filial affection of both a son and a daughter. 
See Miss Catherine Sinclair's " Shetland and the Shetland- 
ers ;" and " Memoirs of the late Right Honorable Sir John 
Sinclair, Bart." by Archdeacon Sinclair. 



12 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

of the chivalry which through his strong-minded 
mother, Lady Janet,* he had derived from the 
ancient house of Sutherland, and exulting in 
all the possibilities of an existence which he 
meant to fill with noble deeds, at the residence 
of Mr. Maitland, at Stoke Newington, he saw 
a young lady, whose rare attractions drew many 
admirers round her. Of these none could be 
more ardent than Mr. Sinclair, and he soon 
won the affections of a congenial mind. But 
Miss Maitland was an only child and an heir- 
ess, and her mother grudged that her future 
home should be so far away. However, the 
same love which would fain have kept her 
daughter near her, could not long gainsay that 
daughter's deliberate choice ; and ere long the 
sanction of either parent gave to the happy 
suitor his lovely bride. Nine years passed pros- 
perously. Mr. Sinclair was in Parliament; his 

* Lady Janet was daughter of William Lord Strathnaver, 
who, had he survived his father, would have been seven- 
teenth Earl of Sutherland. Her sister, Lady Helen Suther- 
land, married Sir James Colquhoun, of Luss, grandfather of 
that Sir James who became the husband of Miss Janet Sin- 
clair. Consequently, Lady Colquhoun and her husband were 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 13 

knowledge of finance made him an authority 
on that great question of the day. and gained 
him the special favor of the Premier. He had 
received the promise of a Baronetcy,* and was 
daily rising into higher political influence and 
public celebrity, when his flattering prospects 
were shrouded in sudden gloom by the removal 
of his much-loved partner. Along with the 
memory of her feminine graces and endearing 
gentleness, Mrs. Sinclair left her representatives 
in two little girls, almost too young to miss her, 
but still so like her, that, in the daughters, there 
w 7 as a promise that the mother would appear 
again. Hannah; the oldest, was five years of 
age, and Janet, of whom we are now to write, 
was only four. She was born in London on 
the 17th of April, 1781, and during her infancy 
her parents resided at Westminster and White- 
hall. 

The first home of these motherless children 
was their ancestral seat r Thurso Castle. That 
stormy mansion looked more like a nursery for 

* After his wife's death, as Mr. Sinclair had no son, by a 
very unusual concession to the feelings of his friend, Mr. Pitt 
made out the patent of Baronetcy in favor of Sir John, with 
remainder to his daughters and their heirs male. 

2 



14 LIFE OF LADY COLGlUHOUN. 

a lord of the isles, or like, what it was at first, 
the ocean-nest of the amphibious Caithness 
earls, than a retreat for tender orphans, cradled 
beneath a southern sun. But in that grim old 
castle the Orphans' Guardian had provided 
for them all but a mother's care. Not only 
was it the frequent resort of their fond surviv- 
ing parent, but it was the permanent abode of 
their paternal grandmother, a Scottish gentle- 
woman of the olden school, shrewd, energetic, 
notable, proud of her ancient lineage, and, as 
became the descendant of that venerable peer 
who first affixed his tremulous autograph to 
Scotland's Covenant, a firm adherent to the 
Presbyterian polity : one who looked well to 
the ways of her household, and indited horta- 
tory epistles to youthful clergymen : but also 
one w 7 ho, amidst all the strictness of a mana- 
ger, and all the stateliness of a high-born 
dame, carried about that constitutional kindli- 
ness, and those profound affections, which — 
like a deep well fenced with rustic masonry — 
the old mothers of Scotland sometimes hid 
within a dry or stoic manner. Lady Janet 
now lived for the daughters of her son, and 
though perhaps imperfectly acquainted with 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 15 

the distinguishing truths of the Gospel, it was 
her anxiety to bring up her youthful charge 
religiously. She constantly took them to the 
parish church, and then examined them on 
the sermons they had heard, and required 
them every Sabbath to repeat to her a Psalm 
and the Shorter Catechism. At the Castle also 
resided their father's sister, a kind lady, who, 
throughout her long life, never ceased to be 
much loved by her nieces.* And there, too, so- 
journed a judicious and affectionate servant — 
the English nurse, Morris — to whose warm- 
hearted counsels and simple Bible lessons her 
youthful charge were at that period more in- 
debted than to any human influence. Herself 
a guileless and God-fearing Christian, this 
faithful attendant imbued the minds of her 
young mistresses with much of her own truth- 
fulness and reverence for sacred things. One 
Sabbath Miss Jessie came in with a lapful of 
live shell-fish, which she had gathered on the 
shore at a great distance from the Castle. " I 
think, my dear," said Morris, " you should not 

* She afterwards became Mrs. Baillie, by her marriage to 
Lord Polkemmet, one of the Senators of the College of 
Justice. 



16 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

have gathered them on the Sabbath-day ; you 
had better put them again where you got them." 
Miss Jessie disappeared, and was late of return- 
ing. She had scrambled back the whole way 
along that rocky coast, till she came as nearly 
as she could judge to the spot where she had 
found the periwinkles, and then put them care- 
fully back again. To her latest day she re- 
tained the simplicity and ingenuousness, as 
well as the respect for the Sabbath, which she 
learned thus early ; and to her latest day, 
Nurse Morris experienced the gratitude of the 
Misses Sinclair, who provided her with an 
ample annuity, and were careful that in health, 
as in sickness, she should want no comfort 
which money could procure. 

From Thurso Castle it was a grand sight to 
view the Pentland Frith in its winter's fury — 
and the sisters often viewed it. On the short 
December days — in Caithness extremely short 
— they would stand and watch as one long wave 
after another swung home, and exploded be- 
neath them ; till at last some monster billow, 
with skirmishers streaming before him, rolled 
up to the charge, and as he burst on the base- 
ment, the windows were washed with brine, 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 17 

and the old tower shook like a lighthouse. To 
gaze on that stormy ocean, and listen to its 
noisy anthem, were great lessons ; and even in 
these our days of infant training, it might be 
well if more provision were made for such book- 
less education, and the young mind were per- 
mitted to commune more freely with nature in 
her wild and gentle moods. The subject of 
this memoir often reverted to the solemn and 
awe-struck emotions with which she used to 
survey the many waves of that mighty sea. 
To her it lived. In its gambols it was a famil- 
iar and a play-fellow ; in its turmoil it was a 
preacher of Jehovah's majesty ; and when for- 
mal instructions had nearly faded from remem- 
brance, she was still conscious of lofty thoughts, 
and grave impressions, derived from this august 
but kindly tutor. 

From Thurso Castle Lady Janet brought 
her grand-daughters to Edinburgh. There, for 
three years they dwelt in the ancient Canon- 
gate, whose quaint houses were still occupied 
by such of the aristocracy as had not migrated 
to the New Town ; and then, to complete their 
education, they were sent to the school at Stoke 
Newington, where their own mother had spent 
2* 



18 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

her youthful days. Mrs. Crisp, by whom this 
school was conducted, received the children of 
her former pupil with a very warm affection, 
and, in her well-ordered establishment, the 
business of learning went briskly forward. The 
different branches were taught by the best 
teachers : the Misses Sinclair enjoyed good 
health, and were endowed with excellent abili- 
ties ; they had already acquired the most essen- 
tial elements of knowledge before coming to 
London, and they had every incentive to study 
which the affection of their governess and the 
good-will of their companions could supply. 
Accordingly, they made signal proficiency, and 
when, at the respective ages of fifteen and six- 
teen, they returned to Edinburgh, in person and 
acquirements advanced beyond their years, they 
found a ready welcome into that brilliant society 
to which their birth was a passport, and into 
which their kind mother-in-law, Lady Sinclair,* 
rejoiced to introduce them. 

* The second wife of Sir John Sinclair was the only daugh- 
ter of Lord Macdonaid. She was not more erninent for beauty 
and accomplishments, than for benevolence and sweetness of 
disposition. The attachment of the Misses Sinclair towards 
her was warm and well deserved, for she was always a kind 



LIFE OF LADY C0LQ.UH0UN. 19 

However, it was the great happiness of the 
sisters that even they had no love of fashion 
and no turn for gaiety. And it was their other 
great happiness that they had an ardent love 
for one another. Hannah was a student. Even 
during her childish days at Thurso, she had 
nearly as many friends as there were books in 
her father's library. She knew the haunt of 
each, and climbing on a chair got hold of her 
favorite poet or divine, and sat demurely read- 
ing whilst the summer tempted her to play. 
To her it was the great event, not when the 
carrier brought a package of new toys, but a 
parcel of new volumes : and when ministers 
and learned people visited the Castle, she posed 
them with hard questions. At school the same 
tendency bewrayed itself. Her turn was still 
for thought and knowledge. She was fond of 
languages ; she was an adept in grammar, 
history, geography, arithmetic; she could cal- 
culate an eclipse, or analyze ''Reid's Inquiry." 
And, as might be expected, she was sedate and 
speculative, and often silent. From extreme 
modesty, reserved, she was still more self-con- 
mother and a faithful friend to them. She survived her hus- 
band ten veari, and died in 1845. 



20 LIFE OF LADY COLQJJHOUN. 

tained, because amongst companions of her 
own sex she seldom found much sympathy in 
her intellectual pursuits. But Jessie was more 
lively. Dutiful and diligent, and considerate 
of each one's feelings, she was full of merry life 
and social glee. There was health in her 
nimble step and a prepossession in her fair and 
open features, and a peculiar charm in her 
tuneful voice. To her sister's turn for music 
she added a remarkable command of the pencil ; 
and whilst her sister pored over problems and 
deep authors, Jessie read for information. Her 
sister pondered and reasoned, and carried with 
her a mind full of queries and surmises ; but 
Jessie seemed to have an innate affinity for 
things "honest, lovely, and of good report," al- 
most akin to Christian faith. At first sight 
contrasts, their characters were really the com- 
plement of one another. Their diversity in- 
creased their fondness, and enabled the one to 
supply what the other lacked. For her erudite 
and thoughtful sister the younger felt an admir- 
ing and up-looking deference ; whilst the limpid 
perceptions and true instincts of that younger 
mind often proved lights in dark places to the 
more abstract inquirer. 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 21 

At that period Dr. Walter Buchanan wa3 
one of the ministers of Canongate. His warm 
and affectionate nature had been cast in the 
mould of the Gospel, and as it shone from his 
happy countenance and breathed in his gra- 
cious words, holiness was very beautiful.* 

* Dr. Walter Buchanan was born in 1*755. After he was 
licensed he received an invitation to become the minister of 
the Scotch Church at Rotterdam, and was also called to the 
chapel of South Leith, of which Dr. Colquhoun was for so 
many years the eminent pastor. But instead of either 
charge he accepted the office of assistant to Mr. Randall, of 
Stirling, whom he succeeded in 1780. In 1789 he was 
translated to the collegiate Church and parish of Canongate, 
where he remained until his death in 1832. He was a beau- 
iiful specimen of Christian urbanity and warm-heartedness, 
and his house was the natural resort of the pious Churchmen 
and Dissenters who in those days, — the days of Simeon, 
Rowland Hill, and George Burder, — came to Edinburgh, and 
who, until the year 1799, were allowed to occupy mdiscrimi- 
nately the pulpits of the Scottish Establishment. Along 
with Dr. Davidson he was noted for his liberal encourage- 
ment of pious students of Theology, and by the books which 
he lent them, the friendly advice which he gave them, and 
the many substantial services which he rendered them, find- 
ing a tutorship for one, and the office of schoolmaster or 
assistant minister for another, and frequently giving goodly 
sums to those in straitened circumstances, he became a gen- 
eral patron to all probationers of Evangelical sentiments in 



22 LIFE OF LADY COLdUHOrN. 

The sisters looked at him with reverence. 
They had been told a great deal about re- 
ligion, and they thought of it as something 
strict and precise; but they had never met 
anything so fascinating as they saw in their 
saintly pastor. They were quite arrested. 
Even amidst gay parties and volatile com- 
panions there followed them many a remin- 
iscence of those fervent intercessions and per- 
suasive counsels to which they had hearkened 
on the previous Sabbath. At last one day 
Miss Sinclair said to her sister, "If to obtain 
eternal life, we have only to practise goodness ; 
if we have only to do what is right in the sight 

Edinburgh. For many years he edited a periodical which 
supplied the godly families in Scotland with missionary in- 
telligence and instructive Sabbath-reading, — :i The Pteligious 
Monitor.'' With that constancy which was one of her love- 
liest characteristics, Lady Colquhoun never abated for one 
hour in the grateful and venerating affection with which she 
regarded this earthly guide of her youth ; and when, long 
afterwards, her own daughter was married, she felt it a hal- 
lowing and auspicious circumstance that the rite was solem- 
nized by her own spiritual father. And in his widow, who 
survived for fifteen years, she found one of her most esteem- 
ed and congenial friends. The house of Mrs. Buchanan was 
the last to which Lady C. paid a visit. 



LIFE OF LADY C0LQ,UH0UN. 23 

of God and avoid what is evil, I am sure it 
would be folly not to make the attempt." 
And the proposal was made to one who had 
already been pondering the matter in her own 
mind, and who was beginning to be much im- 
pressed with the value of her soul and the un- 
certainty of life. The two resolved to become 
religious. They often retired and read the 
Bible together, and became very exact in de- 
votional exercises. But still they were not 
satisfied. They saw that their pastor and 
Christians like him, "had bread to eat which 
they knew not of," and they longed for this 
hidden manna. At this time they found on 
their father's table a Theological Treatise, 
newly published and inscribed, " From the au- 
thor." It was " A Practical View of the Re- 
ligious System of Professed Christians in the 
Higher and Middle Classes, by William Wil- 
berforce, M.P." It seemed the very book they 
wanted. They carried it off to their own 
apartments and perused it with avidity. They 
could easily recognize in it the same system 
of Evangelical doctrine which their minister 
preached, and, as one truth after another un- 
folded in the bland and eloquent expositions 



24 LIFE OF LADY COLGLUHOUN. 

of the gifted author, they were transported 
with delight. In the precision of a printed 
book, and in the free, inartificial language 
of a layman, they understood the Gospel. 
In Christ believed they found their peace with 
God ; in Christ loved they learned a new mo- 
rality. It was Dr. Buchanan's scriptural 
preaching and elevated walk which first pre- 
possessed them in favor of vital godliness, and 
which long continued to be the chief means of 
building them up in faith and holiness ; but it 
was the " Practical View" which first corrected 
their self-righteous errors and first taught them 
God's own method,— the religion of receiving 
and relying. 

After this the Canongate Church was dearer 
than ever. With sacred delight they hailed 
the return of the Sabbath, and to them the 
most hallowed spots in the world were the 
dusky pulpit in which re-appeared that man 
of God, and their own family pew with its 
faded lining of green baize. With its brown 
light, its heavy pillars, and clumsy sounding- 
board, and with an audience becoming rapidly 
more and more plebeian, that sanctuary had 
charms which more classical structures and 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN 25 

more fashionable resorts could never counter- 
vail. It was the Bethel where God first met 
them, and during each sojourn in Edinburgh, 
the youngest sister used always to revisit it, 
till shortly before the time when she arrived at 
" her Father's house in peace." 

Now, also, was found the benefit of "two 
walking together." Miss Sinclair's seriousness 
and reflectiveness at an earlier period had 
proved of essential service to Miss Janet ; and 
now that service was requited, for, indulging 
the metaphysical propensity of her mind, Miss 
Sinclair was soon involved in perplexity as to 
the primary truths of revelation.* The doc- 
trines of the Trinity, the incarnation, the eter- 
nity of future punishment, the Divine sove- 
reignty, all in succession proved stumbling- 
blocks ; and though much distressed at her 
own reluctant doubts, she had not within her 
own resources the means of removing them. 

In spiritual matters her only confidant was 
her younger sister ; but a mind like hers could 
not have sought a better counsellor. To Miss 

* "We here anticipate the narrative by a few years. It 
was not till Miss S. had reached her 21st year that she felt 
the doubts described above. 

3 



26 LIFE OF LADY C0LQUH0UN. 

Janet the Gospel had always been its own 
witness. She cared not to reason about M fate, 
free-will, foreknowledge, knowledge absolute 
but she saw the glory of God in the face of 
Jesus Christ. To her the religion of the Bible 
was beautiful. To her, in His revealed char- 
acter. God was light, and she perceived no 
darkness at all. To her the Bible was truth. 
and the Gospel was the wisdom of God.. And 
instead of debating with her sister, she directed 
her mind to the same objects which had assur- 
ed herself. That which she had seen of the 
Word of Life she declared to her disquieted 
friend: and by dwelling on the fitness of the 
Gospel, and the loveliness of the Saviour's 
character, and by urging her to pray, she 
sought to bring that friend to " fellowship with 
the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.'' 
And she succeeded. By means of the more 
prominent and practical truths of Christianity, 
she conjured away her sister's abstruser doubts 
and intellectual difficulties, and had the happi- 
ness to see that dearest of her kindred a sharer 
of her own ingenuous and healthful piety. Our 
language contains few summaries of Evangel- 
ical Christianity more simple and comprehen- 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 27 

sive than Hannah Sinclair's " Letter on the 
Principles of the Christian Faith f and in 
reading it we feel our interest deepened by re- 
membering that this labor of sisterly love is in 
good measure the result of sisterly prudence 
and piety; for under the blessing of God the 
Spirit it was her younger sister's meekness of 
wisdom and simplicity in Christ which mainly 
contributed to establish Hannah Sinclair in the 
"Christian Faith." 

But an event had now occurred which, 
whilst it left them attached as ever, interrupt- 
ed their daily communings. On the 13th of 
June, 1799, and in the nineteenth year of her 
age, Miss Janet Sinclair was united in marriage 
to James, eldest son of Sir James Colquhoun 
of Luss, Baronet. 



CHAPTER II. 



GROW IN GRACE, AND IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF OUR LORD AND 
SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST. 2 PETER III. 18. 



Lady, that in the prime of earliest youth 

Wisely hast shunn'd the broad way and the green, 

And with those few are eminently seen, 

That labor up the hill of heavenly truth, 

The better part, with Mary and with Ruth, 

Chosen thou hast. 

Thy care is flx'd, and zealously attends 

To fill thy odorous lamp with deeds of light, 

And hope that reaps not shame. 

milton's sonnets. 



Has the reader ever spent a bright day on 
Loch Lomond ? Has he gone at leisure, and 
carried to it a spirit free from guilt and fore- 
boding ? Rising healthily and praying ear- 
nestly, has he opened his soul and consented 
beforehand to let in all the wonder and delight 
with which the great Creator may be pleased 
to fill it? And, in his own hired boat, drop- 
ping from isle to isle, has he taken leisure to 






*LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 29 

gaze and meditate and dissolve into the scene? 
And was there ever day like that? Not that 
you can describe the sights unutterable ; though 
you carry within yourself placid visions and 
sunny images of which you know that the 
origin was there : a silvery fulness, and stand- 
ing forth from it, mossy rocks and clumps of 
verdure ; a giant mountain on a throne of 
empyrean, with a foot-stool of lazulite ; vistas 
through the hot and flickering air, such as the 
fire- tin ted pencil of Turner only can depict ; 
pure summits and a polished flood, which made 
you think of the hills of immortality, and the 
snowy robes which sweep the sea of glass : 
whilst, like the music which breaks a dream 
and then makes it beatific, through all the 
trance there went and came the sense of a 
pervading Presence, — the nearness of that 
Eternal Wisdom which built the mountain 
and up to its green edging brimmed the flood. 
But though no words can restore the land- 
scape, you remember how it refined your per- 
ception and ennobled all your faculties : the 
fallow-deer on Inchlonaig and Inchmurrain 
grew tall as the elk, and you were sure that 
the hawk was an eagle. The Persicaria in 
3* 



30 LIFE OF LADY COLGIUHOUX. 

the bays, with its rosy spikes, and the toad- 
flax on the beach, were new and gorgeous 
flowers ; and Bible texts and stanzas of favor- 
ite hymns thrilled you with excessive emotion. 
You had put off the commonplace, and were 
clothed upon with fine and pellucid senses ; 
and there was no longer aught tame or vul- 
gar in the world, for you yourself were nobler. 
With a keen eye for its varied beauties, the 
subject of our biography now found her home 
in one of the loveliest regions of all these 
lovely shores. Surrounded by stately trees, 
and sheltered from the blast by the ferny slopes 
of a Highland Mountain, Rossdhu looks out 
upon Loch Lomond, where its waters are 
widest and its isles and margins fairest.* 

* A small volume has been compiled, describing the sen- 
sations of different travellers in visiting Niagara. A similar 
volume might be devoted to Loch Lomond. Such experi- 
ences are interesting. Be it the perfection of grandeur or 
the perfection of beauty, the tendency of noble sceneiy is to 
concentrate the soul, and nothing can be more revealing of 
the real character than the genuine utterance of such intensi- 
fied moments. And, after the lake in all its loveliness had 
subsided into her calm and daily consciousness, few things 
were more delightful to Lady Colquhoun than to witness the 
rapture of a fervent novice. Near the mansion of Rossdhu 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 31 

And, though encompassed by soft lawns and 
blossoming parterres, it is near enough to the 

is the Island of Inchtavanach, from whose elevated crest, 
tradition says, a great bell used to summon to their several 
churches the people of four parishes. Of course, this beifry- 
knoll commands a splendid view ; but, owing to his lame- 
ness, it was with some difficulty that they dragged Legh 
Richmond to the summit. Once there, however, they could 
not drag him down ; but, slowly revolving his radiant visage, 
and through his great round-eyed spectacles devouring the 
landscape, he always hushed his ndgetty companions with 
the sentence, — " The eye is not satisfied with seeing." But 
a shorter glance sufficed his friend and contemporary, Mr. 
Simeon, of Cambridge. "With his usual vivacity he pirouetted 
round to look at every object as they pointed it out ; then 
turning to his hospitable guide, he exclaimed, " Sir James, 
you turn to this side and you say, ' That is mine ;' and you 
turn to the other side and say, ' That is mine ;' but," lifting 
both his hands, " I look up and say, Heaven is mine !" On 
the same spot Dr. Chalmers exclaimed, " I wonder if there 
will be a Loch Lomond in heaven !" And there Dr. Maian 
knelt down, and poured forth the fulness of his heart in such 
a prayer as many have heard beside his own Lake of Geneva. 
Perhaps, however, the mood of mind most congenial to 
her own was that expressed by one whom she never person- 
ally knew. In the diary just published of the devoted mis- 
sionary, John Macdonald, he writes, " I took an opportunity 
of visiting Loch Lomond, and was exceedingly delighted. 
how sweet and tranquil was the bosom of the lake ! I 
thought of the ' peace of God that passeth understanding.' " 



32 LIFE OF LADY COLGIUHOUN. 

mountains to be constantly visited by breezes 
from the broom and the heather. Some of the 
windows look out on a ruined gable of that 
castle from which the fierce Sir Humphrey 
used to sally with his followers when he went 
to fight the Clan Gregor: and near that castle, 
overshaded by ancient yews, is the roofless 
chapel, where the fierce Sir Humphrey was 
laid to sleep when all his fights were over. 
With its pictures and its library and its spa- 
cious halls, with three parishes for its manor 
and the queen of Scottish lakes for its out- 
look, and with all the self-contained luxury 
which marks the country-seat of a wealthy 
Baronet, at the period of life most susceptible 
of enjoyment, the younger Miss Sinclair found 
herself the lady of Rossdhu.* But the grace 
of God had full possession of her mind, and, 
amidst all the blandishments of smooth-going 
existence, He Himself was her chiefest joy, 
and His Word her chosen guide. Amidst all 
the charms of the landscape and the fascina- 
tions of refined society, she never neglected a 
household duty. "The lines have fallen to 

* Her father-in-law died, and she became Lady Colquhoun 
in 1806. 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 33 

me in pleasant places," was her devout ac- 
knowledgment regarding her earthly lot ; and, 
though embowered in scenes so fair that they 
almost justified the relaxation to which they 
perpetually tempted, she never ceased to hear 
a voice, authoritative and earnest, saying, 
" Occupy till I come." 

Of retiring habits, and fain to dwell among 
his own people, Sir James Colquhoun was 
much beloved by his dependants. Personally 
cognizant of their character and circumstances, 
there survived betwixt himself, his farmers, 
and cotters, the best relic of feudalism, — its 
mutual affection. He took the principal man- 
agement of his own estates, and never turned 
adrift on the world the orphan or the widow.* 
It was his greatest happiness to have a wife 
like Lady Colquhoun. At first, proud of her 
looks and her elegant manners, he learned to 

* In early life Sir James had served in the army. Having 
raised a company in his own neighborhood, according to the 
regulation at that period, he was appointed to the command 
of it, and thus joined his Regiment with the rank of Captain. 
He was afterwards elected Member of Parliament for the 
county of Dumbarton. On the death of his father he retired 
from the army, and chiefly resided on his estate, devoting 
himself to its improvement. 



34 LIFE OF LADY COLQ.UHOUN. 

value her gentle wisdom and unworldly good- 
ness, till at last harmony of affection merged 
in harmony of faith. She saw his prejudices 
against evangelical religion. She scarcely 
hoped to remove them by conversation : but 
she prayed for " oil in her lamp." and sought 
to make her own light shine. Her prayers 
were answered ; her consistency was rewarded. 
Her husband became gradually and more and 
more intelligently attached to the same prin- 
ciples. In appointing pastors to the eight 
parishes of which he was patron, it was his 
first anxiety to find ministers of fervent piety. 
And when, by and by, he was chosen an elder 
of the Church, and had a voice in its supreme 
Assembly, his vote was always given for those 
measures which conferred privileges on Chris- 
tian congregations, and which promised most 
effectually to extend the Gospel. 

Luss can boast of more than one celebrated 
divine. It was here that Maclaurin com- 
menced his eminent ministry; and here that 
he would have been content to spend his life 
in preaching those sermons so full of holy 
eloquence and magnificent theology. And it 
was here that John Colquhoun was born. In 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 35 

his boyhood he herded sheep on. the Mulea 
Hill, and till thirty years of age plied the 
shuttle of a hand-loom weaver, when he got 
his heart's desire, — went to College, and be- 
came one of the most useful preachers and 
solid authors of the Scottish Church. But, for 
many years after Lady Colquhoun came to 
Rossdhu, the parish minister was Dr. John 
Stuart. Although not eminent as a preacher, 
he was famed for his scholarship and his 
scientific attainments. To his knowledge of 
the original Scriptures, and to the idiomatic 
purity of his Gaelic, the Highlanders are 
mainly indebted for the perfection which their 
version of the Bible has attained. And at a 
time when few cared for natural history, he 
was pursuing it with enthusiasm among the 
mountains of Breadalbane ; and with such 
success, that when Pennant, Lightfoot, and Sir 
Joseph Banks came to explore the Scottish 
Fauna and Flora, it was from Mr. Stuart they 
derived their most important information. The 
"Manse Garden," at Luss, contained many 
exotic rarities, and, still more interesting to the 
botanist, many of the scarcest plants of Scot- 
land ; and in that garden it was a great delight 



36 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

to Lady Colquboun to walk, and view those 
treasures with which no hand might tamper 
save the Doctor's own. In these visits she 
was soon much prepossessed in favor of the 
minister's eldest daughter. Along with her 
father's warmth and generosity, Miss Stuart 
inherited much of his talent and his turn for 
botany. She was often the companion of his 
rambles through the glens, and up the moun- 
tains, and, having on these occasions shared 
all the delight of his discoveries, she could 
guide the curious traveller to the spot where 
the Lysimachia thyrsijlora or the Osmunda 
regalis flourished, and knew where on Ben 
Lomond might be gathered the finest speci- 
mens of the Sibbaldia procumbens and the 
purple Saxifrage. But, in that amiable and 
ardent mind, Lady Colquhoun quickly recog- 
nized an affinity more precious still. Miss 
Stuart's thoughts were deeply occupied with 
those great truths in which she herself had 
found all her salvation and all her desire; and, 
until Miss Stuart's marriage to an eminent 
minister, when they met they took every op- 
portunity to commune together on the things 
which pertained to their everlasting peace. In 



LIFE OF LADY COLGlUHOUN. 37 

one of these walks round the garden at the 
manse Lady Colquhoun stopped to admire a 
beautiful dwarf-shrub (the Rhododendron fer- 
rnginewn). Next morning, on entering the 
breakfast-room, she found a tiny slip of the 
plant in a miniature flower-pot ; it grew, and 
soon needed a larger receptacle, and ere long 
was transferred to a choice plat of the flower- 
garden ; and, on her return from any tempo- 
rary absence, one of the first spots which Lady 
Colquhoun was sure to visit was this border, 
that she might see " dear Betsy Stuart's plant." 
The place no longer knows either, but the 
memorial of their hallowed affection, the little 
shrub, with its clusters of rich crimson, still 
flourishes. 

However, during the first years of her mar- 
ried life, Lady Colquhoun had much reason to 
lament the want of Christian society. Her 
spirit craved for it. All her desire was towards 
the excellent of the earthy and when, with let- 
ters of introduction, pious strangers took their 
place at her table, or turned aside to tarry for a 
night, she had towards them a venerating feel- 
ing, as if they were angels of God. But usu- 
ally it was in vain that she longed to have 
4 



38 LIFE OF LADY COLQXHOUN. 

spiritual conversation with them. They as- 
sumed that she was - like most gentlewomen of 
that day, — more amiable and interesting than 
many, but as destitute of real religion as the 
rest. And then, when they had passed on their 
way, and when it would have been equally just 
to have charged the lost opportunity to their 
excessive prudence or erroneous politeness, her 
sensitive spirit took home all the blame, and 
she upbraided herself for her sinful timidity. 
On the other hand, in the visiting circle of her 
own neighborhood there were at that time few, 
at least few known to her, in whose intercourse 
she could find spiritual invigoration or intellect- 
ual enjoyment. Amongst the landed aristoc- 
racy of Scotland there were then less mental 
expansion and less religious enlightenment in 
the middling class of towns-people, and much 
less than amongst their own modern represen- 
tatives. Political rancor was extremely viru- 
lent. The prejudice against evangelical Chris- 
tianity was nearly universal. And if the gen- 
tlemen did not drink so freely nor swear so 
coarsely as a by-gone generation, they did not 
read their Bibles more, nor keep the Sabbath 
better. Card-parties, elaborate carriage airings, 



LIFE OP LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 39 

and the news of the neighborhood, were the 
recreations of their wives and daughters ; but 
few took pains to cultivate their minds, and 
still fewer were engaged in works of usefulness ; 
so that in the general absence of literary tastes 
and refined enjoyments, the houses of our 
Scotch grandees repeated with awful uniformity 
the same scenes of pompous inanity and stolid 
merry-making. And, although there were ex- 
ceptions, all the more prized for their rarity, it 
was rather by an effort of benevolence than in 
obedience to her natural inclinations that the 
young lady of the manor paid visits which 
added nothing to her mental resources, and 
often left repentant misgivings in her devout 
and conscientious mind. 

This comparative isolation was not without 
its benefits. It gave a more personal character 
to her piety. Instead of deriving all her im- 
pressions and impulses from ardent or endearing 
friends, her religion increasingly became com- 
munion with the Saviour. And it left her more 
leisure for that employment into which she had 
thrown all her soul, — the instruction and train- 
ing of her children. And whilst it prepared 
her for hailing with peculiar delight the con- 



40 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

genial intercourse at length so abundantly 
vouchsafed to her. it drew her in the mean- 
while with especial tenderness towards such 
humble disciples as the parish then contained. 
— those "poor" whom the Lord had promised 
that he should "have always/' 

Judging by the hand-writing, it was soon 
after her arrival at Rossdhu that the following 
'•' Helps to Self-Examination" were written 
out : — 



a 



'HELPS TO SELF-EXAMINATION. 

u 1. Did I awake as with God this morning? 

•• 2. How were the secret devotions of the 
morning performed ? 

•• 3. Did I offer my praises of thanksgiving, 
and renew the dedication of myself to God 
with becoming attention and affections ? 

-4 How did I read the Scripture or any 
other useful book ? Did they do my heart 
good 1- 

"o. How have the mid-day devotions been 
attended to ? 

•• 6. Have I pursued my common business 
with diligence as unto the Lord ? 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 41 

K 7. What time have I lost this day. and for 
what cause I 

;i S. Have I seen the hand of God even in 
little mercies and afflictions ] 

•' 9. Have I received my comforts with 
thankfulness and my afflictions with resigna- 
tion? 

" 10. How have I guarded against passion 
and vanity 3 

" 11. Have I lived by the faith of the Son of 
God? 

' ; 12. Have I governed my thoughts well, es- 
pecially in solitude? 

" 13. What subject of thought was chosen 
this day, and how was it regarded ? 

" 14. Has my heart this day been full of 
love to God and to all mankind ? 

•• 15. How have I profited this day by the 
negligences I observed in last night's examina- 
tion ? 

; * 16. How did I pray last night ? M 

In the hope that it might prove a stimulus 
to increased activity, and a help in the great 
business of self-culture, in 1805 she began to 
keep a Diary. Its precious volumes have been 
intrusted to the perusal of the Editor, and have 



42 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

left on his mind a very sacred impression re- 
garding the sainted writer. And although ex- 
tracts will probably fail to transfer that impres- 
sion in its fulness to the mind of the reader, 
they may give him some idea of the tender 
lowlihood, the faithful self-observation, the in- 
genuous truthfulness, the simple dependence, 
and the devout aspirations, which resulted in a 
character so complete and blameless. As illus- 
trative of her calm and constant nature, it may 
be right to notice how perseveringly this private 
narrative was kept up. Perhaps the reader has 
himself tried to keep a journal. In a zealous 
moment he has commenced a daily register of 
employments, or the story of a tour, or a record 
of his experiences ; but he soon wearied of its 
methodical routine, and the written leaves have 
long since been cut away to render the book 
available for some new project. But Lady 
Colquhoun was eminently steadfast. Her un- 
dertakings were never prompted by romantic 
fancies, but by sober judgment ; and, therefore, 
the longer she persisted in them the more she 
liked them. And the successive volumes of 
this journal, extending over forty years, and 
sustained with scarcely an interruption, are only 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 43 

a symbol of that continuous industry with which 
she prosecuted every enterprise, and that loving 
faithfulness with which she clung to all her 
friends. 

During the first period this Diary is usually 
brief: but a few specimens may throw some light 
on the writers position and employments : — 

" Tuesday, Oct. 15, 1805. — Awoke in an 
unhappy frame, but was enabled to pray with 
fervor. Prayed for an unlikely thing, which I 
hoped might be helpful to my spiritual interests. 
To my astonishment my prayer was heard. 
Called at Cameron. Mr. Slight came to dinner. 
Much benefited by his prayer." 

Mr. Slight was then, and for a few years 
longer, the Minister of Bonhill. He was a man 
of cultivated mind and fervent piety. He some- 
times, but not often, spent a day at Rossdhu, 
and "the unlikely thing" for which Lady Col- 
quhoun had prayed on the above occasion was, 
that he might be sent to their house that day. 
In going to Cameron she met Mr. Slight, who 
stopped his horse, and said that he was on his 
way to Rossdhu, and, if convenient to her, he 
would still proceed. The Journal resumes : — ■ 

" Wednesday, 16. — Arose with God. Mr. 



44 LIFE OF LADY COLGLUHOUN. 

Slight left us. The joy of God's salvation re- 
stored. 1 would do anything for a continuance 
and increase of it. Retired twice to read and 
pray for some time during the forenoon. 

" Saturday, Dec. 28. — Resolved to read no 
more novels, having been enticed to read one 
which too much occupied my time. Retired, 
and read and prayed with much love and trust 
in my Lord. This week and last I have seen 
how unable I am to resist temptation. Oh ! 
that Christ would strengthen me ! 

" Saturday, July 21, 1810. — Prayed ear- 
nestly to be kept from worldly-mindedness this 

day, being to dine at . Escaped pretty 

well at the dinner-party ; but I fear transgressed 
in the evening at the theatre, where I went 
without wishing it." 

As, in the sequel of this Journal, there will 
be no allusion to the theatre, it may be right to 
mention, that, up to this period, and in deference 
to the wishes of others, Lady Colquhoun occa- 
sionally went to it ; but she had long ceased to 
feel happy there. With successive visits her 
repugnance strengthened, and soon after the 
above was written she saw so clearly the sinful- 
ness of patronizing such places, that she made 



LIFE OF LADY COLCIUHOUN. 45 

a decided stand, and never entered a playhouse 
again. 

" Sunday, Aug. 12. — Do not remember for 
a long time being so little disposed for the 
services of the day. Prayed in the morning 
seriously, but with little life. Unfortunately no 
service at Luss.* Read a sermon aloud, but 
felt little interested. Heard the children, and 
by reading Doddridge's 'Rise and Progress' 
tried to find out what I should do when this 
deadness is upon me. Read over this book and 
felt a little enlivened by finding some of my own 
experience in it. In temptation, without Christ 
I cannot conquer ; but through him I may 
surely do all things. Let me struggle on in 
the way of duty ; He cannot forsake his own 
servants. Lord, Lord, help ! — After writing the 
above, retired to pray to my Lord, Entreated 
with great fervor to be supported in the ways 
of God, in the midst of innumerable evils. In 
prayer my faith and love revived. How gra- 
cious is my Lord ! 

* The communion was then dispensed in most rural 
parishes only once a-year ; and, as the pastors and flocks of 
adjacent parishes used to adjourn to the scene of its celebra- 
tion, each pulpit was apt to be vacant several times in the 
course of the summer. 



46 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

" Thursday, 23. — Delighted with some 
pleasing accounts of George. 

" Friday, Oct. 12.— Sir J. and Lady McGre- 
gor Murray here. Read and prayed early. 

" Saturday, Oct. 13. — This whole day so en- 
gaged as to find if impossible to read the Bible. 
Prayed in the forenoon, and felt affected while 
walking in the island among the tombs.* 

" Sunday, Nov. 25. — Read, with delight, 
'Theron and Aspasio,' on the freeness with 
which Christ is offered. Retired and prayed, 
with tears, for acceptance and pardon. 

" Sunday, April 14, 1811. — Have been three 
months in Edinburgh, from which I returned 
about a week ago ; and, though constant oc- 
cupations of one sort or other have prevented 
my writing, I now set my hand to it that God 
is true and merciful to those who trust in Him. 

I left this place fearful that the dissipations 
of an Edinburgh winter would draw my 
thoughts from my only real good ; but, mer- 
ciful Lord, thou hast made me more than con- 
queror ! My prayer was, that thou wouldest 
shine as a Light around me in temptation, 
and sui^ly thou hast heard me. The means 
* Inch Cailliach is the burying-ground of the M'Gregors. 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 47 

of grace were powerful, and. by the Holy 
Spirit working in them, far outdid any con- 
trary influence. The Sabbaths I was able 
regularly and delightfully to keep, and I had 
an opportunity of sitting down at the table of 
the Lord when Dr. Buchanan preached, — a 
time which I hope w T as not lost to me. Now I 
return here to the want of those lively means ; 
but, Lord, thou art here also. Hold thou me 
up, and I shall be safe ; and so shall I keep 
thy statutes continually. 

" Wednesday, April 17. — Prayed fervently 
in the morning. Resisted a temptation to an- 
ger. This day I am thirty years old. Let me 
now bid a cheerful adieu to my youth. My 
young days are now surely over, and why 
should I regret them ? Were I never to grow 
old I might be always here, and might never 
bid farewell to sin and sorrow. Lord, teach 
thy servant to rejoice in the hope of thy glory. 

"Saturday, July 13.— Sir W. W. W. and 
Mr. and Mrs. S. and Mr. C. came. Prayed 
that my affairs might be ordered for me, and 
that the duties of to-morrow might not be in- 
terrupted. 

" Sunday, 14.— All our visitors went away 



48 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

before breakfast, except Mr. C., who is almost 
no interruption to my devotions. Prayed 
in the morning with much thankfulness. God 
is my Helper in every time of need. 

"Friday, 26. — Read with pleasure, and saw 
my adoption from the character of the children 
of God. How great is my privilege ! I would 
not resign it for worlds. 

" Sunday ', 28. — Meditated with pleasure on 
the Divine disposal of all my concerns. 

" Saturday, Aug. 3. — Mr. Campbell and 
Wilhelmina* here. Happy to find dear W. 
still pious as I remember her. Meditated with 
pleasure on the goodness of God to her and to 
me, and to all his people. Oh ! how does He 
heal our backslidings and forgive us freely ! 

" Monday, 5. — Had a long conversation 
with Wilhelmina at night on religious subjects. 

" Sunday, 18. — Heard the children, 
made me happy by saying she often forbore 
doing what she thought displeasing to God, 
and that she prayed for His Spirit every day. 
Prayed for them all with much earnestness and 
with thankfulness for every serious impression. 

* Sister of Sir James Colquhoun, and wife of John Camp 
bell, Esq., of Stonefield. 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,TJHOUN. 49 

" Tuesday, Sept. 3— The light of God's 
countenance restored. Convinced that I would 
be heard by my gracious Lord, from consider- 
ing that, when on earth. He never rejected 
any one who applied to Him for either tempo- 
ral or spiritual blessings. 

" Friday, Nov. 1. — Forgave an injury, in 
order to follow Christ. 

" Saturday, July 25, 1812, — Read on the 
religious education of children ; which led me, 
with my whole soul, to pray for God's blessing 
on my endeavors to bring up mine in the ways 
of piety. He knows my almost only wish for 
them is directed to this end. 

" Thursday, Sept. 24. — Mr. Millar and his 
friend, Mr. Gorham, here. Feel refreshed by 
the sight of these dear disciples of my Lord, 
though I had no opportunity of conversing 
with them on religious subjects. 

" Friday, 25. — When it is so pleasant to 

meet with Christ's people here, think, O my 

soul, how delightful will be the society of 

heaven ! Feel a desire to depart, but am 

grieved that I love my Lord no better. I long 

for more acquaintance with Him. However, 

I feel assured that I am his, and trust to his 
5 



50 LIFE OF LADY C0LQUH0UN. 

promise, that I shall one day be as I would. 
Did not resent an injury. 

" Sunday ', Feb. 7, 1813. — During the past 
week have got by degrees into a more com- 
fortable frame, not from being sensible of any 
amendment in myself, but from trust in my 
Saviour, and from being sensible that I must 
rest in Him, sinful as I am. Feel very com- 
fortable, and full of faith in the atonement of 
Christ. Resolved to endeavor never to think 
of myself any more, but to look on my salva- 
tion as finished, whatever my frame may be. 

" April 4.* — In these duties not very lively, 
but have an abiding persuasion of acceptance 
through the righteousness and atonement of 
my all-righteous Saviour. Refreshed with the 
text, i Whosoever receiveth whom I send re- 
ceiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth 
Him that sent me.' Surely I joyfully receive 
and attend to the people of God. In the 
evening had a conversation with Sir James on 
religious subjects, which greatly pleased me. 

* After this period Lady Colquhoun usually -wrote in her 
Journal only once a-week, viz., on each Sabbath. Unless, 
therefore, the day of the week be mentioned, the reader will 
understand that it was the Lord's-day. 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 51 

Oh ! how are my prayers continually an- 
swered ! 

" 25. — Walked alone. My meditation sweet. 
Among other things reflected with pleasure that, 
as every creature is placed in a situation most 
adapted to his wants, so surely that noblest 
work of God, the new creature, must and shall 
be one day placed where it shall grow and 
flourish. Oh ! that I were thus transplanted ; 
for this world is indeed a barren soil. 

" Aug. 15. — Went to church at Bonhill, there 
being no sermon at Luss. One part of Mr. 
Gregor's discourse struck me. Speaking of our 
justification, he said, ' that the people of God, 
or believers in Christ, are really as much in a 
state of acceptance as their Lord Himself: 
He being their Surety, all their debt is paid, 
and there is nothing to object against them.' 

" Sept. 19. — For some months have been led 
continually to meditate on death, and anxiously 
to wish that I could look with outstretched neck 
to the time of my dismission. My fears of it 
begin to abate. I feel heartily willing to leave 
the world, which, except for my friends in it, 
has no attraction to me. What principally 



52 LIFE OF LADY COLQX'HOUN. 

staggers me is, that I do not sufficiently love 
my Lord, and long to be with Him. 

"Edinburgh. Feb. 13, 1814.— Got a tooth 
extracted yesterday : and one thing which in- 
fluenced me was the desire to attend the house 
of my God to-day. The gum was still painful 
when exposed to air ; however, I resolved to go 
and hear Dr. Buchanan. Refreshed by the 
sermon, though sometimes in much pain. One 
remark comforted me. — that love to our Chris- 
tian brethren it a sure sign of being Christ's 
disciples : as mentioned more than once in the 
Bible. I do, indeed, with my whole heart, love 
them. 

" Rossdhn. April 10. — We all returned safe 
home last week accompanied by Hannah, and 
Mr. Proudfoot.* who conducted family worship, 
which I wished to establish, and we are to have 
it every Sabbath evening. I hope it may turn 
out for the good of us all. 

" June 26. — No sermon at Luss. Heard Sir 
James read one. Went out and meditated on 
the love of Christ, and his frequent exhortations 
to faith. Oh ! that I could not doubt, and then 
I might say to this mountain of sin, — ■' Be thou 

* Then tutor of her sons, afterwards Minister of Arrochar. 






LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 53 

removed, and it should be done, 5 and nothing 
should be impossible to me. Well, I trust my 
Lord has undertaken to cure my hard heart, 

u July 24. — Impressed with the shortness of 
my abode in this world, which is to me a reviv- 
ing', as well as awful idea. Indeed, I would 
not live here always. 

" Sept. 4. — In the past week Hannah left 
me, and I parted with her and with my father 
and Lady Sinclair with more regret, as they 
are shortly going to England to reside and I 
can see comparatively little of them. But shall 
I not trust to my Lord that all is right and 
well ? I know that this dispensation is for good 
for me and us all, and I would not alter it. 

" Edinburgh, Jan. 15, 1815. — At St. George's 
in the morning, and heard Mr. Thomson. At 
the Canongate in the afternoon, and heard Dr. 
Buchanan, Ps. cxvi. 16. He concluded with a 
few advices to those who were determined to 
serve the Lord : — ( 1. Beware of self-confidence. 
2. Beware of sloth. 3. Beware of worldly- 
mindedness. 4. Mix not too much with the 
world. 5. Be constant and fervent in prayer. 
6. Be sure you trust in the mediation of Christ, 
and in him only.' Oh ! what means of grace 
5* 



54 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

do I here enjoy, for which in some periods of 
my life I would have given anything. As yet 
little temptation has befallen me throughout 
the week. Have found benefit by realizing the 
presence of Christ when in the world. Were 
He. indeed, visibly there, how little should I 
care for others ! 

" Feb. 5. — At Mr. Grey's chapel in the after- 
noon. He preached on the forgiveness of in- 
juries. By the help of grace, resolved to prac- 
tise this difficult duty in its fullest extent. I 
trust I am not utterly a stranger to it. 

' ; 12. — In the past week put in practise, as 
far as possible, my intentions as to forgiveness. 
Think Mr. Grey's sermon was designed for my 
good, as I had much to try me in many little 
things, which are sometimes as difficult to over- 
look as greater matters. 

" March 26. — After dinner w T e made an at- 
tempt to hear Mr. Chalmers, but the crowd was 
so great we could not. Felt disappointed, par- 
ticularly as it is my last opportunity here : but 
was soon reconciled. I have more need to go 
home and meditate and pray. Did so, and my 
heart, from being dead, became alive to God. 

" Rossdhu, April 23. — Have of late been dis- 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. DO 

tressed with the weakness of my faith, which 
cannot take Christ at his word when He says 
that He will receive all who come to Him. I 
can reason very well that He could do no more 
to show this willingness, and that we must huy 
without money and without price ; and yet I 
cannot feel satisfied, because I do not love my 
Lord sufficiently. What is this, however, but 
resting on my own performances ? And did I 
love Him as his dearest saint, it would only be 
the work of his own Spirit, and He can work it 
even in me. If not, I will endeavor to rest on 
his naked word, that I am accepted in Him. 
This night my faith firmer. 

" July 25. Tuesday. — This day met with a 
trial of its kind. Mrs. Millar had given Mr. 
Simeon, of Cambridge, a letter of introduction 
to me. I should have been delighted to see 
him, in hopes of getting some refreshment from 
his conversation and prayers; but, from some 
accident, he went away before I knew of it : 
and although I sent to Luss, I found he was 
gone. Of course, this was ordered by my 
Heavenly Father ; but I have found it hard to 
be resigned. Lord, I hope I could be more 
easily reconciled to temporal losses ; but per- 



56 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

haps not. Oh ! if I may not receive help 
from men, be thyself my light and my salvation ! 

" 27, Thursday. — The Lord has heard my 
prayer. — This day Mr. Proudfoot lent me l Ed- 
wards on the Religious Affections. 5 On reading 
it I felt a stronger impression of the reality of 
Divine things, and of the infinite holiness and 
beauty of God and my Redeemer, than I recol- 
lect for very long. I now feel more certain of 
being his ; have more love to Him ; and (what 
makes me hope it is indeed his Spirit's influ- 
ence) am more humble. Lord, I bless thee for . 
this refreshment. Thou hast seen fit to do thy 
work without any intercourse with creatures, 
and now I am resigned. Mrs. Millar, in her 
last letter, mentions her meeting with Mr. Sim- 
eon, who took leave of her in these words, — 
1 God bless you. Commit yourself to Him. 
Keep Him in your heart. Remember there is 
no happiness without Him, either here or in 
heaven? 

" Ear 'nock House, Aug. 10. — Have been 
here for some days, and have left Hannah at 
Polkemmet. Arose early this morning to read 
and pray. At church in the forenoon at Ham- 
ilton, and in the afternoon at Blantyre, w r hen 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUX. 57 

Dr. Hod son gave us an excellent sermon on 
prayer, and the certainty of its prevalence if 
offered for things agreeable to the will of God. 
How often have I experienced this : and do I 
not now experience it? having prayed for the 
presence of God, and that I might hear 
his Word faithfully preached 1- I have met 
with the people of God in my journey, and Mr. 
Millar has given me many religious books to 
read. 

" Rossdhu. Oct. S. — Prayed but coldly in 
private, but with fervor in the family. "What 
a refreshment is family prayer, when my heart 
is dull, but longing for grace ! 

li Edinburgh. Feb. 11, 1816.— Not at church 
in the morning, having ear-ache. Have reason 
to be thankful for this complaint, — it has kept 
me from two parties : and the day before I took 
it I had heard of the great attainments of poor 
Bell (formerly my housemaid), who, amidst 
great bodily distress, has become eminently 
pious. I felt envious, and almost prayed that 
I might be made such by any means ; but God 
soon taught me gratitude for the good health 
I enjoy. Pain is hard to be borne. 

" March 16. — Another striking event among 1 



58 LIFE OF LADY COLaUHOUN. 

our connections happened last week in the sud- 
den death of Lord Polkemmel. He had been 
long complaining, but was much in his usual 
way, when he dropped down and expired. 
Have been much with Mrs. Baillie, and have 
tried to comfort her and raise her mind to God. 
I also saw the corpse — the first I ever saw. I 
felt no terror ; but to me the sight was rather 
consolatory. I thought — Is this all death can 
do if we are Christ's? then, I will not fear it. 

" March 31. — And now I am come to my 
last Sabbath in Edinburgh, and this day took 
leave of the dear pew in the Canongate Church, 
where my first religious impressions were 
awakened ; for this spring the church is to be 
fitted up anew, and the seats altered. As I 
left it, could not help feeling — Thanks, thanks, 
O my God, that I ever sat there ! Praised be 
my gracious Lord that I ever heard Dr. Bu- 
chanan and sat under his ministry ! Glory be 
to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that it 
was effectual to lead me to Him ! Now I leave 
the means I so much love ; nevertheless, I am 
continually with Thee. Thou wilt hold me by 
my right hand. 

" Rossdhiij April 14. — Read Dr. Colquhoun 






LIFE OF LADY COLCIUHOUN. 59 

on l Spiritual Comfort.' Think I enjoy what 
he describes as the lowest degree of it, — a hope 
in the mercy of God through Christ, and a 
trust that everything shall be ordered for the 
best for me. How often have I wished for 
more ! How have I longed for joy unspeaka- 
ble and full of glory ! But it is all right 
and well ordered. My easy, comfortable life 
does not require those supports which are 
afforded in pain and suffering ; and my weak 
heart would perhaps grow vain if I were not 
often reminded that I am nothing and can do 
nothing. 

" April 28. — Sir James and his brother were 
ordained elders. How truly did I join in the 
prayers which were offered up for them ! Last 
week I was much distressed with the fear that 
my sweet had formed an improper ac- 
quaintance, and had got much attached to her. 
After fervent prayer, spoke to her, w'th tears, 
on the subject, and she gave me every satisfac- 
tion I couid wish, seeming willing to do what 
I pleased. Oh, my God ! protect my children! 
Make them Thine, early Thine, forever thine ! 
I ask nothing for them but in subservience to 
this. My whole drift in their education has 



60 LIFE OF LADY COLGIUHOUN. 

been towards this end ; but, Lord, thou only 
canst give the increase. 

"June 23. — Was afraid of Lord and Lady 

being here either to-day or next Sunday ; 

but my God has heard my prayers, and they 
are to come on Wednesday. This week have 
the prospect of being four days following in the 
world: have prayed for support. I feel the 
influence of worldly company less hurtful than 
I once did, and can lift up my heart to God in 
the midst of it much more frequently. 

" July 18, Thursday. — My dear Hannah ar- 
rived here on Tuesday. I have reason for 
thankfulness that her life is still spared. Oh 
that she may enjoy when here, and while life 
lasts, the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel 
of Christ ! This is the fast-day preparatory 
to the Sacrament. This communion, I have 
little prospect from means, as even Mr. Gregor 
is not to be here. But I must endeavor to look 
from the dispensers to the ordinance. 

" 19, Friday {before the Communion). — Let 
me examine my evidences of faith in Christ. 
In the first place, I have no reliance on any- 
thing I have done, or can do, for acceptance 
with God. Secondly, I do trust in Christ alone 



LIFE OF LADY COLQX'HOUN. 61 

for salvation : and. were I to die this moment, 



I should have no other plea before the throne 
but his life and his death. Thirdly. I have 
given myself up to Him. and am endeavoring 
to do his will and live to his glory ; but 'faith 
works by love.' and here the weakness of mine 
is very, very perceptible. O my Lord, how 
little do I love thee ! Yet. methinks. I must 
love thee, when I can be satisfied with nothing 
without thee, and when I almost think I could 
be satisfied with thee and with nothing else ; 
when I love thy image wherever I find it ; and 
when I desire communion with thee more than 
anything else. * Faith purifies the heart.' 
Whatever defilement there may be. and un- 
doubtedly is in mine, yet its desires are after 
purity ; and surely I should not do justice to 
the work of the blessed Spirit, did I not think 
that it is more pure than once it was. or than 
it would have been without this gracious influ- 
ence. ' Faith overcomes the world.' Here I 
can be more decided. The world ? it is noth- 
ing to me : its pomps, its pleasures, its vanities, 
— all nothing, nothing. Its cares are far less 
than they once were. Its sorrows I know not 
6 



62 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

how I may feel, but I trust for Almighty sup- 
port. Faith has overcome the world. 

"Sept. 29. — My dear Hannah leaves me to- 
morrow. God only knows if we shall meet 
again ; however, she (as well as I) belongs to 
Him, and it will be ordered for the best for us 
both. 

" Nov. 24.— Read < Life of Mrs. Newell.' For 
some time past I have been in an uncommon 
state of mind, as I think, owing to one and 
another difficulty and trial. Feel in the strong- 
est manner the importance of religion, and it 
is continually in my thoughts, and yet my 
affections seem dead. Read to the children 
both before and after dinner. Heard them, 
and prayed with them. Happy to hear them 
say that they had prayed alternately aloud in 
a room by themselves. Is not this some sign 
of good impressions ? 

"Feb. 2, 1817.— After dinner read to Sir 
James the < Life of General Burn,' a most in- 
teresting book. I feel quite happy here in my 
beloved retreat, away from the gay and busy 
world. 5 * 

* This winter was spent at Rossdhu. Her sons and their 
tutor were in Edinburgh. 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 63 

" May 4. — Reading c Doddridge's Lectures 
on Divinity," delighted to find some cases de- 
scribed as frequently occurring to Christians 
similar to my own experience. For instance, 
texts of Scripture occurring with power to the 
mind. Well do I recollect 'the deceitfulness 
of riches' occurring to me again and again, 
almost as if I had heard a voice, and when I 
could not recollect in what part of the Bible it 
occurs ; and still the impression of it is fresh. 
Then, a strong persuasion of some particular 
request being granted, which removes from the 
spirit an overwhelming burden. Yes, my God, 
I know this case by experience. Thou hast 
seen me for weeks oppressed and groaning 
under what seemed a wound incurable, but 
thy own sweet words, O Saviour ! healed it, — 
' All things whatsoever ye ask in prayer, be- 
lieving, ye shall receive.' Man, I knew, would 
tell me I must not take these words so literally ; 
but I determined to credit God. I see no lim- 
itation, and I will make none ; and never since 
have I doubted that I shall be heard. Some 
signs of it I already see. I seldom read this 
verse without tears, and the chapter containing 
it (Matthew xxi.) is dear to me. 



64 LIFE OF LADY CC LQUHOUN. 

"May 8, Thursday. — Mr. Proudfoot was 
ordained Minister of Arrochar. And now, my 
God. who would not trust thee? 'In the 
shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, 
until all calamities be overpast. I will cry 
unto God Most High, unto God that performeth 
all things for me? I went up to Arrochar 
and witnessed the ordination. Mr. Gregor 
conducted the service uncommonly well. His 
text was, ' Necessity is laid upon me : yea, woe 
is unto me if I preach not the Gospel.' The 
crowd was great, and he preached in the tent. 

" June S. — Read to Sir James, and prayed 
for a blessing. I never had more delightful 
views of the Lord Jesus than last night, in 
reading the parable of the good Samaritan. 
"What a beautiful one it is ! I could have 
kissed his sweet, compassionate, heavenly 
w r ords. Art thou, Lord, such a pure, glorious, 
gracious Being ; and yet do I sometimes fear 
thee as my enemy? Thou knowest the 
reason. Nothing but thy Spirit can open 
mine eyes, and I will trust thee that it shall 
be given. The most delightful view I can 
form of heaven itself is, that I shall love and 
serve thee. 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 65 

" July 17, Thursday. — This being the fast 
before our Sacrament, rose earlier and thought 
over my sins with penitence. How constantly 
do I sin in neglecting God, — that God who is 
giving me so much to be grateful for ! How 
constantly do I sin in my best works ! How- 
ever praiseworthy in the sight of men, every 
action is defiled with this disgusting quality. 
My most fervent prayers are tainted with this 
poison. My most self-denied labors for the 
good of others are sometimes rendered unwor- 
thy in the sight of God by pride. And how 
often am I far more gratified by thinking that 
a pious action will procure me the approbation 
of the dear disciples of my Lord, than of that 
Lord himself ! Oh ! vanity, how dost thou 
defile my almost every thought ! And have I 
not been envious ? Am I clear of doing injury 
to the souls of my dearest friends, and of all 
around me, by neglect ? These are a few of 
innumerable sins. ' Woe is me ! for I am of 
unclean lips, and dwell in the midst of a peo- 
ple of unclean lips V but let a coal from thine 
altar touch them, and take my iniquity away. 

" 27. — Expected that Sir Gregory and Lady 
Way would have been here to-day. Once, a 



66 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUX, 

sight of these disciples would have been quite 
a refreshment to me : now. through the good- 
ness of God. I have much more intercourse 
with his people. I suppose we shall see them 
to-morrow. 

" Oct. 26. — Dined out yesterday. All seem- 
ed to make light of religion, or worse. I dared 
to put in one icord for it. and am happy to 
think I gain a little more courage in this 
respect. Why. — oh ! why have I been taken 
out and made separate ? Why ? but because 
God would be a Father to me. and would have 
me for a daughter even of the Lord Almighty ! 
Oh"! that He may dwell in me, and walk in 
me. and be my God forever and ever !" 

Lady Colquhoun's Journals have left upon 
our mind a delightful impression of sincerity 
and progress. Whilst, on the one hand. 
there is no constructive effort to prove against 
herself infirmities and sins with which she 
was not chargeable : on the other hand, every 
significant circumstance in her spiritual his- 
tory, whether encouraging or adverse, is de- 
tailed with scrupulous accuracy. And. as the 
great end which she kept constantly in view 



LIFE OF LADY COLQJJHOUN. 67 

was self-improvement, she was not content 
with confiding to these mnemonic pages her 
weekly portraiture, but against detected faults 
she resolved and prayed and watched until 
they were completely overcome. God gives 
grace to the humble, and when, in later life, 
she perused these minute and ingenuous rec- 
ords, she must have been cheered by a thank- 
ful consciousness of expanding views and ma- 
turing character. 

And should any reader of this narrative 
have adopted a similar plan for his own im- 
provement, may we suggest that its entire 
value will depend on similar faithfulness? 
Apart from the haunting idea that it may fall 
into other hands, a diary will prove a snare if 
its writer tries to feel other people's feelings, 
and, failing that, uses language in advance of 
his own experience. Like those piratical mol- 
luscs which take up their abode in the re- 
jected shells of their neighbors, the religious 
professor who only prays or journalizes in 
other men's phrases will be sure to distort or 
dwarf his piety. And in the subject of this 
biography we see how much more growthful 
is a lowly commencement, if genuine, than 



68 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

the most brilliant beginnings, if made in bor- 
rowed exuviae. 

Although we have forborne from transcrib- 
ing those passages in which a mother pours 
forth her desires and prayers, in the foregoing 
pages the reader has obtained occasional 
glimpses of her parental affection and assidu- 
ity. Daring this period her main employment 
was the education of her two daughters. With 
the exception of some branches, for which, 
whilst in Edinburgh, she called in the aid of 
masters, she taught them everything herself; 
and in the illusion of her own dear society her 
pupils never felt a task in any lesson. On the 
Sabbath evening they were joined by their 
three brothers, and the time was spent in re- 
peating the catechism and hymns and psalms, 
and in hearing their mother read some book 
adapted to their years. Amongst her papers 
were found two letters, the one addressed to 
her sons and the other to her daughters. 
They are not dated, but must have been writ- 
ten when her children were very young, and 
when she had on her own mind the impression 
that she might soon be taken from them : — 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUX. 69 

i; My dearest James, and John, and William. 

••I cannot leave you in this vain world 
without one parting advice, and without once 
more assuring- you how dear you have ever 
been to me. Now that my body is consigned 
to the grave, and my soul has returned to God 
who gave it. to you. my dear children, it will 
not signify whether you ever knew a mother's 
care or not. except in so far as you profit by 
her counsel. Let me. therefore, ask you. and 
let me beg that you would ask it of your own 
consciences. — Are you living to God? Are 
you trusting in Christ for salvation, and obey- 
ing his commands 7 

ci To promote this my every thought with re- 
gard to you has been subservient. "Were I 
assured of this. I should feel comparatively 
easy as to everything else. Oh ! my children, 
this is the one thing needful. 

-• I feel a pleasing confidence that none of 
you are ignorant of the method by which sin- 
ners obtain reconciliation with God. I would, 
therefore, only urge your immediate acceptance 
of Christ as your Saviour : of God as your 
God. There is no impediment on God's part. 



70 LIFE OF LADY COLQ.UHOUN. 

Blessed be His name, all His offers are free ; 
be willing, then, and you are His for evermore. 

u How many temptations you must pass 
through I tremble to think of; but I have an 
assurance, which I would not part with for 
worlds, that my prayers for you are heard, and 
will be answered, when I am sleeping in the 
dust. I feel a hope that you will be blessings 
to the circle in which you move, and that you 
will glorify God by your conduct through life. 
What higher honor can you aspire to ! 

" You, my dearest , will probably have 

many opportunities of usefulness. If you live 
you will have much of this world's good things 
to dispose of; value them, I beseech you, only 
as giving you more of the power to do good. 
Oh ! let all you are and all you have be de- 
voted to God. Encourage every useful under- 
taking, and give liberally to the poor, as you 
have received liberally from God. Do all in 
your power to place pious clergymen in any 
church in which you may have influence, for 
this is a most important method of doing good. 

"Should any of my dear boys think of enter- 
ing the sacred profession of the ministry, — Oh ! 
consider the weight, the importance of the 



LIFE OP LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 71 

charge. Remember it is doubly incumbent 
upon you to be yourself what you exhort 
others to be. I charge you, my child, to 
preach Christ Jesus the Lord. Remember, if 
you do not use every means in your power 
to bring to the Saviour the souls of those com- 
mitted to your charge, you are responsible for 
them. 

" With one other advice I will conclude. I 
exhort you, my dear children, if any of you 
should at any future time think of marriage, 
that you will not allow beauty, or any out- 
ward accomplishments, to be the only thing 
you look for. In the choice of a wife seek for 
one who fears and loves God, and I will ven- 
ture to assure you of happiness with her. 
Such a one in your own rank it may be more 
difficult to find ; but among the families of the 
pious it is far from impossible. Pray to God, 
and he will direct your choice. I trust you 
wdll ever love and assist one another, and be 
dutiful and affectionate to your dear father. 

"And now, O my God, shower down thy 
grace in abundance on my children. Remem- 
ber all my prayers for them : be to them what 
thou hast been to me :• — I can ask no more. 



72 LIFE OF LADY COLGIUHOUN. 

'Save them from the evil that is in the world. 
Grant, oh ! grant that we may meet in glory, 
through the merits of thy well-beloved Son. 
Amen. 

" I remain, your most attached Mother, 
" Through life and in death, 

" J. CoLaUHOUN. 

" Keep this letter by you, and occasionally 
read it over ; when you are older you may un- 
derstand it better. 7 ' 

The following are extracts from a similar 
letter addressed to her daughters : — 

" My dearest Sarah and Helen, 

" When this shall be put into your hands, I 
hope, my darling children, you will be in some 
degree reconciled to the loss it has pleased God 
you should sustain in the death of your most 
affectionate mother. I am sensible that it is a 
great loss to be deprived of a parent whose 
anxious care it was to bring you up in the fear 
of the Lord ; and nothing could reconcile me 
to the thought of parting with you, but that I 
commit you to Him who has been my God in 
life and in death. 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 73 

"And now, my children, when deprived of 
an earthly parent, to whom should you go but 
to your Heavenly Father ? Believe me, there 
is in Him enough to make up for every loss, 
and much more than enough to satisfy every 
desire. Fall down on your knees before 
Him. Entreat Him to receive you. Entreat 
Him to be to you what He has been to your 
mother. Entreat Him to guide and instruct 
and sanctify you. And entreat Him, through 
the merits and righteousness of Christ Jesus, 
which, if you ask, are yours. 

" Read the Bible carefully, and with a desire 
to be instructed by it. And pray for a blessing 
on it. Read, also, other good books, many of 
which I leave behind me. Never neglect fer- 
vent prayer. 

11 My dearest Sarah, to you I leave my Diary, 
which you will find in my bureau, in the small 
place that locks inside of it. Let your brothers 
and ssiter see it ; and I would recommend you 
all to keep one yourselves. I have found much 
benefit in doing so. By it you will judge what 
were my aims and desires. How far I fell 
short, God and myself only know. But you 
will also see, that I have trusted alone for ac- 



74 LIFE OF LADY COL<aUHOUN. 

ceptance in the 'Lamb of God, who taketh 
away the sins, of the world. 5 

" Dearest Sarah, take some charge of your 
sister. Endeavor to instruct her in those truths 
in which I have instructed you, and by which 
she was perhaps too young to get much benefit. 
Try all methods to win her to the love and 
practice of religion ; and if they fail, try them 
again. Be a mother to her, and God will bless 
vour weak attempts. 

"In whatever relation or station you may be 
placed, try to act as God would have you. Be 
very cautious of your friendships. Shun, as 
the plague, those who have not the fear of God, 
w r hatever other attractive qualities they may 
possess. Meet with such you must ; but do not, 
oh ! do not make them your friends. Whatever 
it may appear to you now, the time, be assured, 
is not far distant when death shall snatch you 
from everything here. Surely, my dearest girls, 
all my care, all my prayers for you shall not 
be in vain. Oh ! then, dread the world ; dread 
its follies, its gaieties, its company. Oh ! then, 
place your happiness in religion. Oh ! then, 
keep the commandments of God. Oh ! fly to 
Christ for redemption. Do the angels rejoice 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 75 

when one sinner repenteth? and shall not my 
joy be unbounded to see my children saved 
with an everlasting salvation ? 

" With one more request I will conclude. 
My dears, do not mourn for me, as those who 
have no hope, Look up. I am safe, I am 
happy, unspeakably happy. You may follow. 
All things are ready : Come to the wedding. 
Christ stretches forth his hand to save and sup- 
port you ; put forth yours and lean on the Be- 
loved. { The Spirit and the bride say, Come. 
And let him that is athirst come. And whoso- 
ever will, let him take of the water of life freely.' 

" Let your brothers, and, if you like, your 
father, see this letter ; and get a reading of 
theirs. Keep it by you, and let Helen have a 
copy. Be ever dutiful to your only remaining 
parent, and endeavor to prevent his feeling my 
loss. 

" Farewell, till we meet (oh ! may I not hope ?) 
never to part, where we shall be ever with the 
Lord, ever with one another. My God, my 
Jesus, let thine everlasting protection shield my 
children from all evil. Save them, and they 
shall be saved. Make them holy and heavenly. 
I have endeavored to lead them to Thee ; re- 



76 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

ceive them graciously, love them freely, and 
even in glory put a new song into my mouth, 
— praise for the wonders of redeeming love to 
those dear as a right hand. 

" I die, as I have lived, 

"Your most anxiously attached mother, 

" J. CoLGtUHOUN." 



CHAPTER III. 



REMEMBERING YOUR WDRK OF FAITH, AND LABOR OF LOVE, 

AND PATIENCE OF HOPE IN OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. 1 

THESS. I. 3. 



Therefore love aud believe ; for works will follow spontaneous 
Even as day does the sun ; the right from the good is an offspring. 
Love in a bodily shape ; and Christian works are no more than 
Animate love and faith, as flowers are the animate spring-time. 

LONGFELLOW. 



Hitherto the summers of Rossdhu had been 
often cheered by long visits from a beloved sis- 
ter ; but the last of these had now been paid, 
and, in the spring of 1818, that sister lay a dy- 
ing invalid at Ham Common, in Surrey. 
There, besides the affectionate assiduities of 
her own family, she was favored with occa- 
sional visits from a faithful minister of Christ, 
and the frequent society of an attached Chris- 
tian friend. Lady Colquhoun could not come 
7 * 



78 LIFE OF LADY COLGIUHOUN. 

to her, but, on this very account, her supplica- 
tions were the more ceaseless, and her solicitude 
relieved itself in letters, which, for their sisterly- 
tenderness and faithfulness, proved the chief 
cordial of the weary sufferer. In penning them 
the fond writer sought help from a Wonderful 
Counsellor, and, as they were full of His wis- 
dom, as well as her own warm-heartedness, 
they always arrived like "words in season." 
Miss Sinclair kept them under her pillow, and 
used to have them often read over to her. 

The following extracts from her Journal 
show how the mind of Lady Colquhoun was 
exercised during this anxious spring: — 

" Rossdhu, March 8, 1818. — After church 
was quite overcome by receiving two or three 
lines from my dearest Hannah, written with 
great difficulty and in much weakness, but ex- 
pressive of the composure of her mind, and 
resignation to every issue. Oh ! my God, 1 
will praise thee! Yes, I will praise thee even 
in the fire of affliction, when thus tempered 
with mercy. 

" April 12. — It has pleased the Lord to lay 
his afflicting hand upon me ; but it has also 
pleased him in great mercy to support me. I 



LIFE OF LADY COLGIUHOUN. 79 

beard yesterday, that my dearest sister is no 
better, and getting still weaker. I have been 
agitated, but quite resigned ; and I see so much, 
so very much mercy in every part of the dis- 
pensation, that I dare do nothing but lie quietly 
in the hand of God. After some thought, I 
wrote her a letter telling her of her danger. 
Oh ! how was I puzzled how to frame it ! but 
I trust my pen was guided by an invisible 
Hand. O Lord ! accompany this bit of paper ; 
be with her when she opens it ; support her 
spirits ; give her triumph in the thought of 
death ! I trusted to thee for direction ; may it 
answer the end for which I wrote it ! Em- 
ployed much as usual to-day : but in the eve- 
ning felt nervous and unwell. Still I have the 
greatest possible confidence in the safety of the 
dear saint. I cannot mourn as those who have 
no hope, and I could not have believed that I 
should be so tranquil. 

" 26. — Oh ! I am cold and dead at present. 
I am indeed worthless ; my services worthless, 
my heart worthless. I feel some pleasure in 
writing these lines, and making this acknowl- 
edgment. In glory, and there alone, shall I 
love and serve my God. And heaven is mine, 



80 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUX. 

—freely and without money, mine. Had not 
Christ died, my portion were hell. Had the 
happiness yesterday to hear that dear Hannah 
is no worse, and that Mr. Gaudy and ZNIiss 
^lassie were to see her. How kindly is God 
dealing with her : and thus he deals with all 
who are his. 

" May 10. — Prayed with sincerity in the 
morning, and laid all my burdens on my cov- 
enant God ; for. burdens I have, and one very 
heavy to be borne. All hope is over. Dear, 
dear Hannah is much worse, and I look for her 
death every day. Still. Lord, thou art faithful, 
thou art kind. Did not I pray for evidence as 
to her eternal state ? and is not my prayer fully 
answered ? Is she not everything I could 
wish? a pattern of meekness, patience, long- 
suffering, — faith ? What would I have more ? 
Must she be detained from glory because I can- 
not part with her ? No, Lord ! I would only 
still further implore that thy everlasting arms 
may enfold her now and for evermore; that 
her passage through the dark valley, which is 
but a { shadow/' may be easy, and that thou 
wouldst be graciously pleased to support me, 
thy poor afflicted servant, and sanctify it to me. 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 81 

u 17. — Received a very gratifying letter from 
my sister Catherine ; not that my Hannah is 
getting better : my dear saint must go to her 
blissful home ; but I was gratified with the 
affection expressed for her and me, and above 
all, with the piety which appeared in it. There 
is the fruit of my Hannah's labors. 

•• 24. — My beloved sister still lives ; at least, 
I have not heard of her death. Oh ! how hard 
it is to give up one so truly dear ; yet I feel re- 
signed. My heart is sometimes rent, especially 
when I hear anything of her affection for me ; 
but, in general, I am calm to a miracle. God 
has done it. In this trying dispensation, how 
kind has he been to me, warning me for eleven 
years of its approach, and at last taking her in 
the gentlest manner. I trust, too, it has already 
been sanctified. My heart has been raised to 
Jesus, and I have been enabled, in a faltering 
manner, to lean on the Beloved. Could I but 
know this dear Lord, I should trust him. 

" Tuesday r , 26. — Hosanna ! Hosanna in the 
highest! I have just heard that my beloved 
Hannah is in glory ! What cause for praise ! 
'Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from 
our sins in his own blood, and hath made us 



82 LIFE OF LADY COLQX'HOUN. 

kings and priests unto God. and his Father, to 
him be glory and dominion forever and ever. 
Amen. 7 Sweetest saint, thou art now far re- 
moved from me ; but far, also, from sin and 
sorrow, and enjoying the presence and the 
smiles of Jesus. Oh, that my end may be 
peaceful, like thine ! Not a fear disturbed thy 
serene composure, and thou slippedst gently 
away, as if afraid of disturbing others. Oh, 
my Hannah, hardly shall I find thy equal, as 
none can be equal to me ! yet, could raising a 
finger bring thee back, I would not be so cruel. 
Though I must sojourn here a longer or 
shorter time without my darling sister, have 
we not an eternity to spend together? Let 
me rejoice in the thought. Oh, that I could 
raise this dead heart above the world ! My 
God ! sanctify this event to me, and accept my 
praise for thy great kindness to the dear de- 
parted, and for so wonderfully supporting me. 
" 31. — Beloved Hannah ! I would once more 
write a little to thy beloved memory. What a 
heart was thine ! — filled with the desire of 
doing the will of God, and of conferring good 
on all around thee. Yet, hadst thou died 
some years ago, I should not have been so 



LIFE OF LADY C0LQ,UH0UN. 83 

confident of the safety of thy state. God 
heard my prayers, and completely established 
thee in the faith, and now I have nothing to 
say but ' Alleluia : for the Lord God omnipo- 
tent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and 
give honor to him : for the marriage of the 
Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself 
ready. And to her was granted that she should 
be arrayed in fine linen : for the fine linen is 
the righteousness of saints.' — Read to myself 
and Sir James. Read to my children with 
much enlargement. At night prayed with 
tears. Even my prayers distress me, for I used 
always to pray for my dear departed Hannah. 
I cannot omit her name, so I turn it into 
thanksgivings for God's goodness to her." 

Miss Sinclair died on the 22d of May, and 
soon after her death a little volume was pub- 
lished, containing her own beautiful " Letter 
on the Principles of the Christian Faith," and 
a brief memoir from Legh Richmond's happy 
and descriptive pen. In its accessible pages 
the reader may learn more fully how worthy 
was Hannah Sinclair of her sister's devoted 
love, and how full of immortality was the hope 
which sparkled amidst that sister's tears ; and 



84 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

it is only for us to add, how fraught with 
peaceful fruits to the survivor w^as this long 
and deeply-felt affliction. These chapters may 
be read by some w T ho have sustained recent 
bereavements ; if so, may their sorrow in like 
manner be sanctified ! 

And, perhaps, the most natural effect of this 
trial on a mind like hers, was the effect which 
Calvin's death produced on Beza, — " Now is 
heaven more dear, and death less dreadful." 
She had learned how lightsome the Saviour 
can make the dark valley, and she almost 
wished that she had traversed it when the 
"door of hope" opened so wide, and let so 
much of glory shine athwart it. And she 
could think of the better country more vividly, 
because one so familiar was there. To quote 
some of the simple rhymes into which about 
this period her contemplations often ran : — 

In sweet surprise that anthem swelling 

With notes of joy and love ; 
What seraph's form is this that treads 

Jerusalem's courts above ? 

That form, methinks, I yet should know ; 
That heart, it once was mine ; 






LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 85 

And still, my Hannah, does my soul 
Unite in love to thine. 

Together, from our earliest years, 

In every thought united, — 
Each in the other's grief downcast, 

In th' other's joy delighted. 

Oh ! may we still such union prove, 

And one in Christ be found ; 
And through one glad eternity 

The Saviour's praise resound. 



Arrayed in the deep mourning, which was 
little needed to remind her of her loss, many 
were the solitary walks she now took in the 
garden, and in the sequestered by-paths of the 
" Policy ;" and there, or seated on the margin 
of the silvery lake, she loved to meditate on 
the multitude before the throne : and just as in 
that multitude she recognized one dear as her 
own soul, for that dear one's sake " the Lamb 
in the midst of the throne" became yet dearer. 
Nor was it long till the sisterly thoughts, which 
used to travel to England, as naturally as- 
cended to heaven. 

But along with this result came another, as 
important. For many years she had ceased to 
8 



85 LIFE OF LADY COLQ.UHOUN. 

live unto herself; but up to this period her 
solicitude and self-denial had been mainly for 
her husband, her children, and her immediate 
family circle. This Providence, however, broke 
open a door of exit, and bade her seek a wider 
sphere. She received it as a personal message, 
and, admonished that " the time is short," she 
looked eagerly around for opportunities of larger 
usefulness. 

Accordingly, the first time that her neigh- 
bors saw her, except at Church, was at the 
formation of a Bible Society, a few weeks 
after her bereavement. The day is thus re- 
corded in her Diary : — 

"Monday, June 29. — I had the happiness 
of witnessing the establishment of a Bible 
Society at Luss. It is to be called l The Luss 
and Arrochar Bible Society.' I hope I was of 
some use in setting it a-going, though not the 
original mover. O Lord, I rejoice to be in any 
w 7 ay the instrument of forwarding thy king- 
dom in the w r orld, and saving poor lost souls. 
With delight I heard Sir James make a most 
excellent speech on accepting the office of 
President ; and thus supported, I trust it may 
be of great benefit to the neighborhood." 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 87 

And from this time forward she devoted 
herself in more systematic efforts to the poor 
of her vicinity. And although the national 
reserve prevented her from gaining all the ac- 
cess she desired, or doing all the good she 
wished, her labors of love were generally ap- 
preciated, and she was conscious of a recom- 
pense in her own soul. 

" Blessed is he that wisely doth 
The poor man's case consider :" 

So sings the Scottish version of the forty- 
first Psalm ; and we have often heard that 
most enlightened of the poor man's friends, 
Dr. Chalmers, quote it with applauding em- 
phasis. And there was much " wisdom" in 
the way that Lady Colquhoun dealt with " the 
poor man's case." Amongst the natives of 
Luss she found Scottish pride in union with 
Celtic touchiness. Under the home-spun coat 
and Highland bonnet it was the same high 
mettle which often stalks in hungry magnifi- 
cence beneath the Spanish cloak and sombrero, 
afraid of obligation, and affronted at alms- 
giving. " Na, na, I'm no in want," was the 
instinctive rejoinder of a tattered old woman, 
as a stranger slipped half-a-crown into her 



88 



LIFE OF LADY COLQLHOUX. 



withered palm, which, however, as instinctively 
closed over the goodly coin, till the sense of 
want and the sense of honor were happily 
harmonized by some courteous word of ex- 
planation. And even after they consented to 
receive the gifts of individual kindness, it was 
a prime point of honor to owe nothing to pub- 
lic charity. One aged female, who was at last 
entirely supported by the Rossdhu family, used 
to place five pounds, the savings of a frugal 
life, beneath her pillow every night, lest, by 
any possibility, she might be chargeable to the 
parish for the expenses of her funeral. And 
another, who in extremity had accepted some 
relief from tire poor's money, by her latter will 
provided that her personal property should be 
disposed of and the proceeds refunded to the 
Session, and as the sale of her effects realized 
near forty shillings, it is likely that in her case 
the parish was no great loser. But grotesque 
as might be the occasional manifestations of 
this spirit. Lady Colquhoun respected and en- 
couraged it. She was proud to know that her 
poor neighbors were not paupers, and. " con- 
sidering their case." she bestirred her ingenuity 
how to relieve their wants, and save their in- 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 89 

dependence. Amongst her pensioners was an 
aged and pious woman who formerly had 
charge of the poultry at Rossdhu. Her chief 
means of support was now derived from a 
humble class of lodgers, and the produce of a 
cow, the keep of which, along with her cottage, 
she had rent-free. She was also installed in 
the guardianship-general of the bee-hives, a 
post which entitled her to a small yearly sti- 
pend, and which only called for her attention 
in the pleasant hours of sunshine and summer. 
And when, at last, lingering infirmities left 
her long bed-ridden, her kind benefactress was 
constantly resorting to her cheerful but lowly 
chamber. There Lady Colquhoun confessed 
that she had learned many a lesson of grati- 
tude and trust in God. Her joyful tribulation 
and patient hope were a visible sermon ; and 
all the more instructive because derived from 
constant communion with heaven. Often 
when her visitor would draw near to her peace- 
ful bedside and ask, "And what have you 
been doing, Nelly?" her answer would be, 
" My leddy, I've been wussin'."* 

One day Nelly's cottage was full of smoke, 

* Wishing, i. e., praying. 

8* 



90 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

and on her entrance Lady Colqukoun was 
greeted with the exclamation, " Eh, my leddy, 
ye canna come in here for the reek, siccan a 
fine leddy as you." " Hold your peace, Nelly," 
was the answer ; " when you and I are in the 
grave, if any person takes up your dust in one 
hand, and mine in the other, he won't be able 
to tell which was the lady." But amidst all 
this consciousness of the common humanity 
and the common frailty, there was an obvious 
elevation which commanded the respect, whilst 
it did not lessen the affection of the poorest. 
There was in her words enough of fellow- 
feeling to assure them of the speaker's friend- 
ship ; but there was also that in her aspect 
which gave to these words the enforcement of 
a superior nature. And, surely, that is the 
truest grandeur which, even if station were 
lost or unsuspected, would still be noble, in 
virtue of its own refinement; just as that is 
the truest condescension which can lay aside 
everything except inherent dignity. So grace- 
ful were her manners, so delicate her cultured 
mind, and so lofty the homestead of her ha- 
bitual thoughts, that, though she could forget 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 91 

or conceal the accidents of rank, she could 
never cease to be the Christian gentlewoman. 
Walking in the beautiful grounds of Park- 
place,* one day last summer, a picturesque cot- 
tage was pointed out to the writer, and he was 
told how, in the minds of some of the family, it 
was associated with Lady Colquhoun. In the 
course of her first visit, they were sauntering 
through the pleasure-grounds, w r hen they came 
to that cottage, and she was asked if she would 
like to go in and see the aged gardener, then 
laid on his dying bed. She eagerly assented, 
and, after talking to him a little in her own 
sweet and engaging way, she begged her friends 
to continue their walk, for she could not speak 
so freely whilst they were present. By and by 
she joined them, radiant with that happiness 
which celestial natures feel w T hen visits of mercy 
have been paid ; and as the old man continually 
reverted to that interview, and the prayer with 
which it ended, as a sort of angelic epiphany 
in his homely history, we may hope that it was 
blessed to his everlasting benefit. And though 

* The seat of E. Fuller Maitland, Esq., near Henley-on- 
Thames. One of Mr. Fuller Maitland' s daughters was mar- 
ried to Lady Colquhoun' s second soa 



92 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

it must be admitted that for such services she 
possessed a rare felicity, neither should it be 
forgotten that of that fitness the main element 
was her rare benevolence. Those who would 
fain be the benefactors of their brethren possess 
the main prerequisites if they are blessed with 
warm hearts, and clear views of the Gospel ; 
and for an open ear and a welcome they need 
not be anxious, if into the abodes of their neigh- 
bors they carry a bosom glowing with the Sa- 
viour's heavenly kindness. 

In a tract, first published anonymously, 
Lady Colquhoun has supplied us with a speci- 
men of her cottage conversations ; and, as illus- 
trative of herself and of the blessing which 
sometimes crowned her labors, we may copy a 
few paragraphs : — 

" On my entrance I beheld an old man 
stretched upon a bed, apparently in great pain, 
whose face was half eaten away by that dread- 
ful disease, a cancer. Yet his countenance 
bore marks of intelligence, and of that cultiva- 
tion of the mind, which, even among the lower 
orders, is so common in Scotland. His features 
were aquiline. He was pale and emaciated, 
and a certain wildness in his stare seemed to 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 93 

announce that he suffered greatly. The bed 
on which he lay was cased round with wood, 
excepting a space in front, by which to enter. 
The remaining furniture of the room consisted 
of another bed, a few wooden chairs, a table, 
and cupboard. The fire, which was of peat, 
burned upon the ground, without grate or 
chimney, the smoke seeking its exit through a 
small opening in the roof, which, however, 
seldom allowed of its entire escape. And a 
window, oft repaired, but dimly admitted the 
light of day. Yet this uncomfortable lodging, 
I am convinced, made no part of the misery of 
my new acquaintances ; they had never known 
a better, and custom had completely reconciled 
them to the want of all the conveniences of life. 

"I advanced towards the poor man, and 
said, — 

" l I am sorry to hear you are so unwell.' 

« < Very bad, 5 was his reply. 

" l . Are you in great pain V 

11 f Very great.' 

" l Does anything give you relief?' 

" < Nothing.' 

" ' Are you always equally distressed !' 

<u No; sometimes the pain is much more in- 



94 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

tolerable ; I could not speak to you if the fit 
came on now ; but I shall never, never be better.' 

"This last answer reminded me of the hint 
his wife had given as to the state of his mind. 

" ' It is a consolation,' said I, ' to know that 
trials are sent for our benefit ; and this one, 
hard as it is to bear, may prove a great blessing 
to you.' 

"'There, is no blessing for me, 5 said he, 
hastily ; ' I am lost, undone, miserable here, 
and will be so, forever.' 

" As I gazed upon him, I saw despair pictured 
in his ghastly and disfigured countenance. 

" £ I hope you are mistaken,' I replied. 'Do 
you not know that there is a Saviour for poor, 
lost, undone creatures ? that he is able to save 
to the uttermost all who come unto God by 
him ; that he came to seek and to save that 
which was lost : and that he will in no wise 
cast out any who apply to him for salvation V 

" ' I know all you can tell me,' said John, 'foi 
I am well acquainted with the Bible ; but 1 
know likewise that there is no salvation for 
me.' 

" 6 Does any particular sin oppress your con- 
science V I inquired. 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 95 

" c No,' said he, ' I have lived a religious life. 
Unlike many of my neighbors, I have kept the 
Sabbath — prayed morning and evening — ab- 
stained from swearing — attended on ordinances 
— thought I was serving God ; but he has re- 
jected me ; and this is a judgment sent from 
heaven ; it is the beginning of those pains which 
will last eternally — it is hell begun. 5 

" I listened with horror as he spoke, for, from 
the expression of his countenance, his words, 
dreadful as they were, seemed inadequate to 
convey his meaning." 

For more than a year Lady Colquhoun con- 
tinued to visit assiduously her afflicted neigh- 
bor without seeing any break in the gloomy 
cloud with which his soul was enveloped. It 
was oh a day when a grievous accident had 
befallen his grand-daughter, who was the 
chief support of himself and his aged partner, 
that the following conversation occurred : — 

" 'Is it not a judgment now?' said he, on 
seeing me : i would stroke upon stroke thus 
follow me if I was not abandoned forever — lost 
— going down to the pit ? Oh, the bottomless 
pit ! it has a chain and key none can escape. 



96 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

To be tormented day and night, forever and 
ever ! — ' 

" He would have proceeded, but I interrupted 
him by saying, ' You have forgotten this text, 
"Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and 
scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." ' 

" i He will never receive me,' was the reply. 

" £ John,' said I, < you certainly labor under 
an unfortunate delusion ; it is necessary that I 
should examine you a little more closely. Are 
you willing to accept of a full and of a free salva- 
tion ? I know you will say that you are ; but 
let me explain the meaning of these expres- 
sions. 

" 'To receive a free salvation means, that 
you accept of it without respect to anything on 
your part ; that your past life has nothing to 
do with it, and that even your future life can 
have no effect in justifying you in the sight of 
God ; that the life and the death of Christ are 
your only grounds of hope ; and that you ex- 
pect an eternity of happiness from him, as a gift 
for which you can give no return. 

" l To receive a full salvation means, that 
you are willing to accept of the whole which 
Christ offers, salvation from the power of sin 



LIFE OF LADY C0LQ,UH0UN. 97 

dwelling within you, as well as from hell. 
Jesus came to save his people from, not in their 
sins. Is there, then, anything which you know 
is displeasing to God, but which you are un- 
willing to give up ? any right hand you would 
not cut off, or right eye you would not pluck 
out? Christ addresses you as he did the man 
at the pool of Bethesda, " Wilt thou be made 
whole ?" And the same Divine compassion is 
ready to be imparted to you that was exerted 
in his case. Any obstacle must be on your 
side ; for the Gospel offers are without limita- 
tion.' 

" < O, God bless you ! and he will bless you,' 
said John. 

" ' I scarcely know any blessing,' I replied, 
f that would afford me more satisfaction than 
to be useful to you. But consider what I have 
been saying ; are you willing to accept of the 
salvation I have described V 

" < Ask a man,' he answered, 'on the rack, 
if he will accept of relief; he cannot feel more 
anxious to obtain it than I am for an interest 
in Christ. I would do anything, everything, 
to know that I am his, and he mine.' 

" ' Can you consent,' said I, < to what is still 
9 



98 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

harder to our proud natures, to trust in nothing 
that you ever can do. or ever have done, for 
justification in the sight of God: to let Christ 
have the undivided glory 2 His is a finished 
salvation : our part is to accept of it.* 

" ' Oh. if I dared to hope '/' said John. 

"'And why not? 3 I answered. ; Can any 
invitations be more universal than these, which 
are the words of our Lord himself? — "Ask, 
and ye shall receive ; seek, and ye shall find ; 
knock, and it shall he opened to you." •• If any 
man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.'' 
"Him that cometh unto me. I will in no wise 
cast out." J 

" • I think I am under the influence of temp- 
tation/' said Johm { for I cannot hope/ 

" 'Xo doubt you are/ I replied : -but pray to 
Him who overcame the powers of darkness. 
and suffered being tempted, for strength to 
overcome the wicked one. — to Him. who in a 
sense above our comprehension could say. 
11 Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." I. 
too. will pray for you ; and I feel inclined to 
trust that the cloud will at length be dispelled. 
and the Sun of Righteousness yet arise upon 
your soul, with healing under his wings.' 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 99 

" c Never was any one thus interested for my 
salvation/ said the old man. 

" l Ah ! John/ said I, ' there is One who has 
shown himself infinitely more interested for 
your salvation. If laying aside for a season 
the glories of divinity, living a life of persecu- 
tion and distress, and dying a death of extreme 
anguish, both of soul and body, can prove it, 
the Son of God feels a solicitude to pluck sin- 
ners as brands out of the burning, to which no 
created being, in heaven or earth, is alive. 
And yet you fear to trust him.' 

" Tears gushed from the hollow eyes of poor 
John ; he evidently felt the conclusiveness of 
my argument, and the impossibility of reply. 
His countenance brightened — it spoke volumes ; 
but he uttered not a word. He appeared for 
some time silently to feed upon the ray of hope 
which had imperceptibly entered his benighted 
mind ; he seemed scarcely himself to credit 
that he entertained it, and yet afraid to lose the 
first dawning of joy, to which he had so long 
been a stranger. 

" Oh, blessed Spirit ! (I mentally prayed) 
enlighten his darkened soul, irradiate it with 
thy bright beams, purify it by thy benign influ- 



100 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

ence ; lead him to Jesus, teach him how uni- 
versal are the offers of thy Word, and at length 
may he find peace and rest in thine everlasting 
arms."* 

The day had now dawned, and soon the 
remaining shadows fled away ; and it was the 
privilege of his kind instructress to know that 
his last days were irradiated with a joy un- 
speakable and full of glory. 

It was not till a later period that she was 
much in the habit of visiting the poor of Edin- 
burgh ; but there was one forlorn invalid there 
in whose case she felt much interested. Bell 
Macintyre had been a housemaid at Rossdhu, 
and was then a good-looking and a very 
thoughtless girl. From Rossdhu she removed 
to a family near Edinburgh, and was glad to 
find herself in that gay neighborhood ; but in 
consequence of having swallowed a needle, she 
was seized with an internal affection, acute 
and lingering, and was never fit for service any 
more. Her terrible suffering was aggravated 
by extreme penury ; and hearing that her first 
kind mistress was in town, she sent her a mes- 
sage, which soon brought her to the poverty- 
* " Despair and Hope." By Lady Colquhoun. 



LIFE OF LADY COLQXHOUX. 101 

stricken chamber. But Lady Colquhoim was 
not more struck by the sad alteration in her 
old servant's outward lot. than delighted with 
the manifest change in her character. In soli- 
tude and often in great agony, the Gospel was 
now her constant support : and. aided by a 
remarkable memory, she could repeat many 
long portions of Scripture, and turn to almost 
any passage, chapter and verse. Even accom- 
panied by a servant, it needed some resolution 
to dive into the close, and climb the high and 
dirty stair at the top of which Bell usually 
lodged ; but even into these repulsive abodes 
Lady Colquhoim was glad to find that philan- 
thropy could penetrate. One day. whilst she 
was seated by Bell's bed-side, two young ladies 
entered, smiled, placed sixpence on the table, 
and instantly withdrew. The sixpence was 
the weekly gift of the i: Destitute Sick Society;'' 
the young ladies were its visitors ; and their 
coming was a gleam of sunshine to which the 
poor sufferer could always look forward in her 
loneliness. And though Bell could never as- 
certain their names, for some time a young 
officer and his wife came daily from the Castle, 
and brought their sick neighbor her dinner 



102 LIFE OF LADY COLQX T HOUN. 

usually some delicacy in a covered dish, and 
waited till she ate it. But is it worth while to 
chronicle these little charities? It is worth 
while, inasmuch as Lady Colquhoun delighted 
to recount the kind deeds of other people. It 
is worth while, inasmuch as the dainty dish 
carried to the pain-worn prisoner may be noted 
in that Book where even the cup of cold water 
is recorded. And inasmuch as little charities, 
done in the Redeemer's name, are twigs of 
healing in the Marah of humanity, — balm- 
drops on poverty's broken heart, — it will be 
worth while, dear reader, if you and the writer 
go and do likewise. Bell had an only brother ; 
he was a private in the forty-second Highland- 
ers, and did not know of her distress. But as 
his detachment was under orders for Scotland, 
he sent his sister five pounds, that she might 
look smart and respectable when he arrived 
with his regiment. The letter was also ac- 
companied with a present of his old military 
great-coat. When, at last, he arrived, he found 
her in a miserable lodging, and sitting up in 
bed, with his old great-coat wrapped round her. 
As long as he was quartered at the Castle he 
was very attentive to his sister ; but he was 



LIFE OF LADY COLQTJHOUN. 103 

soon sent abroad on foreign service, and Bell 
heard no more of him till tidings of his death 
were brought to her, accompanied by his watch 
and Waterloo medal. The watch was a great 
comfort during the solitary da}-s and nights of 
many successive years. 

Every year on the estate of Luss an oak 
coppice or " hag," is felled, and in cutting it 
hundreds of laborers are employed during a 
portion of each summer. These congregate 
from all quarters, many of them being natives 
of the sister isle. And this, as well as the 
harvest-season, was an opportunity which Lady 
Colquhoun aJways improved for distributing 
tracts. Through the overseer, something could 
usually be ascertained regarding the previous 
history and character of each, and in this way 
he was presented with a word in season. The 
tracts were always received with avidity, and, 
besides being read on the Sabbath, they were 
usually carried away, perhaps to do good in 
distant places. 

The Southern reader may have some diffi- 
culty in realizing such a state of matters ; but 
many of our northern countrymen can still 
recall the period when the parish schools of 



104 LIFE OF LADY COLQ.UHOUN. 

Scotland comprehended the entire population. 
Partially endowed by the landed proprietors, it 
was their boast that they offered an education 
so thorough that the opulent did not disdain it; 
but withal so cheap, that the poorest could 
easily command it. Accordingly, with the ex- 
ception of the principal gentry, who could 
afford a tutor, and the gipsies, to whose crepus- 
cular habits day-schools were not congenial, 
the juvenility of the district all mustered at 
the same seat of learning, and in its play- 
ground the sons of farmers and weavers and 
ploughmen, the minister's laddie, and the bell- 
man's heir-apparent, all kept their daily Satur- 
nalia. Nor did any mischief result from this 
blending of various classes. Its chief tendency 
was to lay the foundation of a cordial and 
friendly feeling through subsequent life. And 
not only was this education unconscious of 
caste; it was catholic. Although intensely 
scriptural, within Presbyterian limits, at least, 
it was thoroughly unsectarian. The scholars 
were mighty in the Proverbs, and marvellous in 
the "proofs;" but we never heard of a parish 
schoolmaster so misguided as to tamper with a 
denominational "testimony," or who taught 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 105 

young ideas to shoot in any ecclesiastical 
direction ; but, sitting- at his feet, little Church- 
men and incipient Dissenters were closely 
united in catechetical alliance. And to crown 
this comprehension, brothers and sisters went 
to school together, learned the same lessons, 
and competed for the same prizes ; so that 
traditions run of great authors, who, in their 
second lustrum, yielded the "writing medal" 
to some little dairy-maid ; and more romantic 
traditions of undeveloped East India directors, 
who vainly strove for arithmetical precedence 
with the future Lady Mayoress. 

But although this system savored of patri- 
archal simplicity, and tended to diffuse through 
the countryside a notable sense of neighbor- 
hood, it was not without its drawbacks, and 
there was one which, in her domiciliary visits, 
especially forced itself on Lady Colquhoun. 
She was sorry to remark the absence of neat 
arrangement and thrifty housekeeping in the 
surrounding cottages ; and she felt that noth- 
ing effectual could be done for the in-door com- 
fort of her neighbors till a girls' school was 
established. Opportunely for her object, a 
neat cottage, not far from Rossdhu, was acci- 



106 LIFE OF LADY COLaUHOUN. 

dentally burned to the ground, and the occu- 
pants being provided with another abode, at 
considerable expense Lady Colquhoun rebuilt 
it, and fitted it up as a school-house. Neatly 
fenced, and the enclosure laid out in shrub- 
bery, it became the type of that new order of 
things which she sought to introduce ; and, at- 
tracted by a splendid fuschsia, which nearly 
covered one gable, strangers and tourists often 
turned aside to visit the school. A suitable 
teacher was selected, and was sent to Edin- 
burgh to perfect herself in needlework, and to 
learn the most approved methods of teaching. 
Lady Colquhoun herself visited the school al- 
most daily, and the severest penalty for miscon- 
duct was exclusion from the class which her 
Ladyship conducted. A striking improvement 
was soon perceptible in the district, and whilst 
the most casual observer could mark the soft- 
ened manners and pleasing appearance of the 
scholars, the parents began to acknowledge 
their own advantage. Hitherto, so little had 
the manual arts interfered with the abstract 
sciences in the education of their daughters, 
that few of them were able to sew. and conse- 
quently for the most rudimental essays in 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ/UHOUN. 107 

dressmaking they were obliged to call in pro- 
fessional assistance. It was, therefore, a great 
surprise and satisfaction when they found that 
they had sempstresses nearly as accomplished 
in their own abodes. 

Of course with the day-school was associated 
a Sabbath-school, To Lady Colquhoun her 
class became an objeet of ever-deepening in- 
terest, and by studying appropriate passages, 
and searching for memorable anecdotes and il- 
lustrations, she successfully labored to make it 
attractive to her pupils. As a teacher she had 
many advantages. Her voice was sweet and 
well-modulated, her countenance benevolent, 
and her whole manner was full of engaging 
earnestness ; so that she gained entire ascend- 
ency over her scholars, and by the accounts 
which they received of her proceedings, many 
of the parents were also induced to attend. 

And she was not content with mere doc- 
trinal instructions. She warned her youthful 
hearers against the sins to which they were ac- 
tually exposed. And in many instances these 
affectionate persuasions succeeded. There 
was one bad custom in the West of Scotland 
at which she was especially grieved. It was 



108 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

the peopled habit, after a marriage, a baptism, 
or a funeral at the close of public worship, to 
invite their friends to the tavern, and there 
they regaled them with ardent spirits. Against 
this desecration of the Lord's-day Lady Colqu- 
houn set herself with all her might, and often 
alluded to it in her class. Her remonstrances 
were not without effect. Inveterate as the 
custom was, at the time of their own marriage 
some of her former scholars had courage to set 
it at nought, though others yielded ; and it is 
to be feared that nothing except the spread of 
intelligence and piety will extirpate the dis- 
graceful usage. 

However, it is time that we allow the reader 
to return to that Journal in which Lady Col- 
quhoun has undesignedly preserved her auto- 
biography. 

" Saturday. July 18, 1818 (before the Com- 
munion). — In the time of worship there was 
an awful thunder-storm. How easily could 
God crush us worms ! How shall we stand in 
that day when He shall be revealed in flaming 
fire? And how can any endure unless covered 
with the robe Himself hath wrought ? Blessed 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 109 

Jesus ! though most unworthy, I feel a con- 
fidence that I am complete in thee. 

"Monday. 20 [after the Communion). — Mr. 
Gregor preached on 1 Thess. iv. 13. 14. — to 
me a most affecting subject. I never was so 
overcome in church before. Every word pic- 
tured my dear, dear saint to my imagination. 
Many a pang do I feel when I think of her. 
Yes. my Hannah, I cannot easily give thee 
up. Oh, that name ! How many times have 
I uttered it with delight ; and often now do I 
repeat it, — sweet, sweet Hannah ! Dr. and 
Mrs. Buchanan were at church, and dined at 
the Manse, returning with us in the evening. 

u Aug. 16. — My spirits for this little while 
have been low, I can hardly say whether from 
my recent loss or not ; but the world appears 
dead to me, and my heavenly hopes less lively 
than within the last few weeks they were. I 
can hardly realize the thought of joy, even in 
heaven. Still, my beloved Lord lives, and my 
life is hid with him in God. Thinking of God 
is the only refreshment I experience. 

" Sept. 13. — This morning was much en- 
livened by Isaiah li. 11, — i Therefore the re- 
deemed of the Lord shall return, and come 
10 



110 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

with singing unto Zion ; and everlasting joy- 
shall be upon their head: they shall obtain 
gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning 
shall flee away.' Why have the redeemed this 
joy? It is because they 'obtain' it from God. 
Oh, the perfect, the everlasting joy to which 
they are introduced! May the thought of it 
make the trials of life sit lightly ! Me thinks, 
could I always view the promised land, even 
through ever so thick a veil, these crosses 
would not be weighty. 

"Nov. 1. — Once more, within these few 
days, I have endeavored to do every action 
only as I think God would have me. I have 
tried to ask myself, Is this what God at this 
time would desire me to do ? 

" Wednesday, Dec. 2. — Attended another 
meeting of the Luss and Arrochar Bible So- 
ciety. It flourishes beyond my hopes. Nearly 
30Z. have been collected ; and though there 
were not many present, there were more than 
formerly, and they seemed to enter into the 
spirit of it. All the office-bearers spoke; Sir 
James twice, and he affected me much, in par- 
ticular when alluding to our Lord's question to 
Peter, -Lovest thou me? 5 What could I have 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. Ill 

answered had it been addressed to me ? 
Strange, that in this I can never be decided ; 
but if a desire to feed his sheep be a sign, of 
that I am confident. Oh, prosper, Lord, the 
means of spreading thy Gospel ! l Let the 
people praise thee; let all the people praise 
thee. Amen, and amen. Then shall the 
earth yield her increase, and God, even our 
own God, shall bless us !' 

" March 28, 1S19. — This day is memorable 
from two interesting conversations ; one with 
a dear friend, another with a servant, to whom, 
along with the rest, I had given tracts. Oh, 
for a blessing on my poor feeble endeavors ! 

-May 9. — Read in Scott's Commentary and 
a French Bible. One passage in the latter 
(John xvii. 24) delighted my heart. It strikes 
me as more impressive than the English, — 
*Pere, mon desir est touchant ceux que tu 
nras donnes, que la ou je suis, ils y soient 
aussi avec moi.' Is this the destine of my 
Lord ? How much more should I desire to be 
with him, and where he is ? And why, sw T eet 
Jesus, dost thou desire to have me with thee ? 
From love it must be — everlasting love ! From 
a delight, too, in the fruits of redemption ; 



112 LIFE OF LADY COLQXHOUX. 

from seeing the travail of thy soul: from the 
satisfaction of beholding pollution pure. And. 
doubtless, from the beneficent delight of carry- 
ing forward the saints, even in glory, to higher 
degrees of nearness to God. of holiness, of 
happiness. 

u May 23. — Tis now a year since my be- 
loved sister has. I trust, been in glory. How 
differently has it been spent from all her other 
years! How contemptuously, perhaps, how 
wonderingly does she look down on the many 
earthly things which might once have agitated 
the mind ! How pure are her thoughts ! how 
delightful the taste she has got of seraphic 
employments and entertainments ! and how 
overjoying the thought that they shall never, 
never end ! Oh, that we poor earthly pilgrims 
could realize something of such scenes, and 
rejoice in the hope of the glory of God ! 

"June 20. — Yesterday my father in Christ, 
worthy Dr. Buchanan, arrived here, and to-day 
he preached to us from 1 John i. 7. It was a 
short but comprehensive compendium of the 
Gospel. "Was happy in hearing him, and also 
much struck with his heavenly temper and 
child-like confidence in God. combined with 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUX. 113 

the largest, charity. How rare are such graces 
even in Christians ! Had a long and interest- 
ing conversation with him. Among other 
tilings, he exhorted me never to let slip an 
opportunity of declaring my sentiments and 
endeavoring to do good, even to strangers. He 
also related several instances where ejaculatory 
prayer had been remarkably answered, and 
recommended its frequent use. 

" 27. — I was struck with the trustfulness, I 
might say assurance, of Dr. Buchanan in 
prayer; and recollecting how much in every 
page of the Bible it is warranted to the believer 
in Jesus, I resolved to dismiss my childish fears, 
and trust in God as mine for evermore. It is 
wonderful what an influence this belief has on 
the heart, and how it prepares for the practice 
of those graces which appear so beautiful in 
Dr. Buchanan. Gave Boston's " Four-fold 
State" to the servants as part of their little 
library. 

" July 25. — Afterwards heard my children — 
all my children ; and, I tremble to write it, our 
little circle may never again meet in such cir- 
cumstances. My beloved J. and J. leave us 
this week for Mr. Grainger's academy in Lin- 
10* 



114 LIFE OF LADY COLQTJHOUN. 

colnshire, and if I am spared to see it. when 
they return they may be beyond this mode of 
instruction. The precious moments are gone 
when a mothers warning voice might be heard 
with most effect. I have, indeed, this happy 
assurance, that if I could in any way have led 
my lambs to Christ, joyfully would I have done 
so ; and that this was my first, and almost only 
ambition for them. And now would I commend 
them to God, and to the Word of his grace, which 
is able to build them up, and to give them an 
inheritance among them which are sanctified. 
Read to them Acts xx. 

" Sept. 19. — Am at this time happily situated 
in the society of my Lord's dear children, dear 
to him and dear to me. Mr. Legh Richmond, 
who has been honored to do so much good by 
his beautiful little tracts, came here last night, 
accompanied by one of his daughters, and 
another clergyman, Mr. Westoby. They came 
in answer to prayer ; my Lord has been load- 
ing me with benefits. Oh. how I love the fruits 
of the Spirit ! there is nothing on earth can at- 
tract my regard half so much. With joy I be- 
held the image of my Lord shining brightly, 
and prayed fervently that these beauties may 



LIFE OF LADY COLQXHOUN. 115 

not only appear, but may flourish and abound 
in my whole life. Oh. that others might clearly 
discern that I had been with Jesus ! At present 
I feel much encouraged and elevated. God is 
near. Have had some little trials, and do think 
I acted with regard to them as he would have 
me ; and by prayer, and by trusting in him 
alone, all was ordered for the very best. 

" Nov. 28. — Last week I was reading the 
Life of Mrs. Elizabeth Hamilton. She seems 
to have been amiable, and religiously inclined ; 
but oh, I pity the person, of whatever talents 
possessed, who is not humbled at the foot of the 
Cross ; and this, I fear, she was not. She talks 
of the greatest enjoyment in this life as being 
the society of persons of genius. Ah no ! she 
knew not that other happiness, communion with 
God and his people. She speaks in raptures of 
Mr. Alison's Sermon on the Talents, where he 
distinctly assigns a reward to the use we make 
of our intellectual powers, &c. A rew r ard ! For 
our services ! It must be of grace, not of debt. 
But these things are often hid from the w T ise 
and prudent, and revealed to babes. Dazzling 
genius, how little canst thou do for thy pos- 
sessor ! 



116 LIFE OF LADY COLGIUHOUN. 

" Edinburgh, March 12, 1S20. — In the even- 
ing I had my children and read the Life of 
Pearce. When reading the lives of eminent 
Christians, I am pleased, but humbled. 4 Less 
than the least of all saints/ should be my motto. 
Without any affectation of humility, or the least 
intention of writing what is not strictly true, I 
see a very great disparity between the experi- 
ence I read of, and what I feel. When be- 
lievers complain, and mention how easily they 
yield to temptation, &c, I can say, This is my 
case ; but when they speak of their joys, their 
raptures, their willingness to do, to be, or to 
suffer anything for Christ, their great love to 
him, &c.j my hands hang down, and I can only 
exclaim, Oh, that it were thus with me ! Yet 
w T ill I, too, hope in the Lord my righteousness. 
Let me be content to sit down in the lowest 
room, for so has he appointed. 

"Bossdhu, Aug. 20, 1820.— My brother 
Alexander and sister Catherine are here. C. is 
to remain for some months. I prayed to be 
permitted to benefit her. What real delight it 
would give me ! She gave me to-day the 
manuscript of my Hannah's 'Letter,' which I 
read over this forenoon, and could have thought 



LIFE OF LADY COLdUHOUN. 117 

I was conversing with my earliest friend. It 
is, indeed, a wonderful production, and has 
scarcely any corrections for the press. This 
forenoon I also read the first portion of my 
Diary, and was struck with the struggle against 
sin which appears in it ; was comforted by ob- 
serving it, but almost fearful that my watchful- 
ness is not so great now. I do, however, think 
that I have attained to an easier victory over 
some sins, especially anger. Resolved and 
prayed to be enabled to scrutinize my heart 
and life, more as a Christian ought ; to pass no 
fault unnoticed, to consider no evil trifling. 
Spent this evening in reading and hearing C. 
read. 

"Nov. 12.— After dinner read in Romaine's 
£ Walk of Faith.' He says that it is impossible 
to love God for his holiness, without loving 
him as our reconciled Father. To myself it 
appears that I have done so ; that the loveli- 
ness of his character was a great means of 
leading me to Christ. But probably I know 
not my own heart ; at least, I would with diffi- 
dence contradict so great a writer. 

" Royal Hotel Edinburgh, Jan. 28, 1821.— 
I should be ashamed that any one of my fel- 



118 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

low-Christians heard my prayers, or knew how 
cold and indifferent they usually are. And 
yet it truly does astonish me ; God hears them. 
In very many instances they have been an- 
swered, and I hardly know an instance in 
which the rest may not be answered yet. I 
must indeed remember that it is through 
Christ, and I hope I feel that I have no other 
plea for acceptance. When begging for any 
blessing with a cold heart, I used to think, 
This prayer I cannot expect to be heard ; but 
now I can trust, wonderful as it is, that this 
lifeless petition will find acceptance before the 
Throne. Often have my prayers been brought 
to my remembrance by their fulfilment. 

"Feb. 11.— Heard Dr. Stewart of the Can- 
ongate, whom I have not heard since he w T as 
settled here. Was much interested in the ser- 
mon, and in the preacher, w T ho is in very deli- 
cate health. May God spare and bless his de- 
voted servant !" 

In the firmament of our Northern Church 
few names shine brighter than that of Dr. 
Alexander Stewart. Born in the Manse of 
Blair, and spending his boyhood amidst such 



LIFE OF LADY COLQJJHOUN. 119 

romantic scenes as the Pass of Killicrankie, he 
received an early tincture of that enthusiasm 
and poetic fervor which make the Highlanders 
sublime ; and then, after a brilliant career in 
St. Andrew's University, by ducal patronage 
he was softly deposited in the Manse of Moulin. 
Just emerged from minority, and radiant with 
life and hope, he could scarcely credit the rare 
felicity which had landed him in this goodly 
preferment, all unconscious of the probationer's 
usual fears and perils. The Living was am- 
ple, the scenery delectable, the very congrega- 
tion was picturesque ; and in the quiet of a 
Scottish parsonage he could pursue those clas- 
sical studies to which he was powerfully at- 
tracted, as in the society of an hospitable 
neighborhood he could recreate his spirit with 
the mirth or the music in which he equally ex- 
celled. But all this while his heart was so 
little in his sacred calling that it was a great 
relief when few people came to his catechetical 
meetings, and from the most solemn engage- 
ments he hurried away to the dance or the 
novel. However, it was his great happiness 
to have for his friend a minister so enlightened 
and fervent as Mr. Black of St. Madoes. Im- 



120 LIFE OF LADY COLQX'HOUX. 

pressed by his holy example. 3Ir. Stewart be- 
gan to take more serious views of the pastoral 
office, and longed to possess that piety which 
so beautified his neighbor's character and so 
delightfully inspired his labors. An affection- 
ate intercourse commenced, and 3Ir. Black's 
letters and conversations had fully instructed 
in the way of God this young Apollos, when, 
in June of 1796. Mr. Simeon paid a short visit 
to Moulin. Sufficient knowledge and an evan- 
gelical bias he had already received, and the 
vivid words of his guest were employed by the 
Spirit of God to impart his first joyful emotions. 
And now r that the gracious principle, slowly 
elaborated but hitherto invisible, had received 
the spark celestial, it blazed up, a burning and 
a shining light. The conversion of Mr. Stew- 
art w T as followed by a remarkable awakening 
amongst his parishioners : and never did min- 
ister preach more powerfully than this ardent 
evangelist, never did hearers listen more won- 
deringly than these simple mountaineers. Its 
result was a revival, singular as occurring in 
the dullest age of the Scottish Church, and of 
which the many fruits are now ripening in 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 121 

places as remote as Cromarty and Calcutta.* 
After a translation to Dingwall, Dr. Stewart 
was brought for the last months of his life to 
labor in Edinburgh. His earnest and richly 
scriptural sermons derived much additional im- 
pressiveness from his enfeebled and death- 
stricken looks ; and during her remaining 
Sabbaths in town, Lady Colquhoun continued 
to wait on his ministry with mournful affec- 
tion. And when, next year, his friend Dr. 
Sieveright published his Life, it became her 
favorite book in Christian biography. 

" March 18. — Oh, with what words of grate- 
ful acknowledgment shall I record the serious 
impression I have observed this day and lately 
in one very dear to me ! I was delighted in 
conversation, and my hopes rise almost to con- 
fidence. I think, and wonder at my prayer- 
hearing God. I can hardly in strong enough 
terms express my astonishment, I dare not say 
my gratitude, though I do feel grateful, at the 

* Dr. Duff, at Calcutta, is a native of Moulin. Dr. Stew- 
art's eldest son, in many respects the most remarkable 
preacher in Scotland, lately died the Minister of Cromarty. 
11 



122 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

numberless answers to my prayer I am daily 
receiving. Bless the Lord. O my soul ! 

" Rossdhu, April 22. — Pelt much interested 
in a plan which I this day began. — reading 
aloud and explaining Doddridge ? s Rise and 
Progress to two of my maids, Mrs. B. and 
G. Have long thought I neglected my duty 
towards them, in not myself explaining to 
them the doctrines of the Bible. Want of 
courage was the hinderance ; but I resolved to 
begin with these two, who have been very long 
with me. 

" July 8. — Read and prayed with all my 
children. Since the return of my sons my 
heart has been much engaged in prayer for 
them all. I began a new plan with them to- 
day, — to get them to prove the various doc- 
trines from the Bible direct. 

" 15.— To my great joy heard this day that 
Dr. Chalmers will preach at Luss in Septem- 
ber. May the Spirit of God bring home to my 
heart the truths he so forcibly preaches ! 

" Aug. 5. — The Sacrament Sabbath at Ar- 
rochar, and Sir James has gone there. May 
his heart be prepared according to the prepara- 
tion of the sanctuary, and may he be benefited ! 



LIFE OF LADY COLCIUHOUN. 123 

A few days ago I received Mr. Legh Rich- 
mond's Memoir of my Hannah, — my dear Han- 
nah. The delineation of her character is very 
complete ; she was what is there described. I 
trust a blessing will attend it, and it gives me 
pleasure to think that I have had some hand in 
it. In many parts my words are retained, and 
I may thus be honored to be useful without be- 
ing seen. 

" Sept. 9. — My God is gracious. I scarcely 
remember to have been favored with so much 
of the society of His people as at present. 
remained till Tuesday, and was succeed- 
ed by Mr. Legh Richmond, his daughter, &c., 
and we had much agreeable and spiritual con- 
versation. Mr. Hamilton of Strathblane came 
here yesterday, and preached to-day. He is a 
faithful and able laborer in God's vineyard. I 
delight in the saints, the excellent of the earth, 
but it is out of their power to lead me to God. 
The best society will not do, without much re- 
tirement. I find deficiency in all. I would 
listen to the lesson, which I ought to deduce 
from these observations, to ' cease from man ; 
I would learn to look forward with outstretched 
affections, to uninterrupted communion with 



124 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

God, — my God. my exceeding joy, — and to in- 
tercourse with the blessed without any mixture 
of defect. 

" Sept. 16. — Again would I confirm what I 
wrote last Sabbath ; it is deeply impressed upon 
my mind. Emptiness, insufficiency, is in the 
world, and in the world's inhabitants, and is 
even found in the people of God. Can we ex- 
pect spiritual light from creatures who are only 
in the dawn of their spiritual existence ? God 
may work, and often does work by them ; but 
when disappointment occurs we need not won- 
der. Dr. Chalmers preached here to-day. In 
the pulpit his powers are certainly great, and his 
reasoning very clear : but having heard that he 
is so extraordinary, I was, on the whole, disap- 
pointed. Mr. Simeon's deep devotion and beau- 
tiful style, impressed me more. Though heard 
above twenty years ago, his sermons are still 
written on my heart. Thanks, Lord, that I 
ever heard them — that these affecting ordi- 
nances were afforded to me when I so much re- 
quired them ! By the remarks now made on 
communion with the saints I may seem to con- 
tradict what I wrote Sept. 19, 1819. What I 
mean is this — God may draw 7 near, as Jesus 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 125 

drew near the disciples going to Emmaus. and 
may bless intercourse with his children ; and 
then it becomes a delightful means of grace : but 
he often does not. to disappoint their hopes, and 
lead them from the streams to the Fountain. 7 ' 

This extract is printed for the sake of its true 
and important reflections, and all the rather, 
because these are connected with a name trans- 
cendant amongst modern preachers, and to 
which eventually none could pay more cordial 
homage than Lady Colquhoun. But if this first 
sermon did not fulfil all her expectations, per- 
haps it was for a reason which, had she known 
it at the time, would have only made him. to 
her pious mind, appear more noble. His text 
was. " The common people heard him gladly ;" 
and. as was his wont on such occasions, he 
would lay aside his grand originalities, and labor 
after those obvious truths which common peo- 
ple are glad to hear. The doctor always ad- 
verted to this visit with peculiar pleasure ; 
nor must we forget to add the delight which it 
afforded to his new acquaintances at Rossdhu, 
from the boatman who rowed him on the lake, 
and the little girl with whom he played at bat- 
11* 



126 LIFE OF LADY COLGIUHOUN. 

tledoor, up to the guests whom he one evening 
dazzled with an astronomical lecture, convert- 
ing the dinner-table into an extempore orrery, 
with a d'oyley for the sun, decanters for the 
planets, and glasses for the moons. To Mr. 
Simeon's clear and vivacious sermons Lady 
Colquhoun had been deeply indebted at the 
outset of her Christian course. There was one 
particularly to which she often adverted. The 
text was, " Ye will not come unto me that ye 
might have life;" and after reading it the 
preacher, in his own striking and peculiar man- 
ner, exclaimed, "Life? blessed Lord ! dost thou 
offer us life ?" and in an instant, enchaining the 
attention of his auditory, he kept it solemnly 
rivetted to the close of his discourse, 

" Nov. 18. — With much interest read and ex- 
plained to my maids. I have now had reso- 
lution to take them all, and cannot but hope, 
from their apparent attention, that some benefit 
will accrue to them. 

"May 5, 1822.— This Sabbath the influences 
of the blessed Spirit appear to me more sensi- 
ble and sweet ; genuine religion has more ex- 
ercised its empire over my soul. I have lately 



LIFE OF LADY COLGIUHOUN. 127 

been deeply humbled on account of heart sin, 
and last night in meditation had some realiz- 
ing views of the necessity of salvation by 
Christ, and of his fitness to be a Saviour. 
To-day, in the morning prayed with sincerity 
and truth, and felt interested in church. Read 
three times aloud — to my young people, to my 
maids, and again at night, in the parlor. Felt 
pleasure in all, and longed and prayed for some 
fruit of my labor. Took a walk before tea, 
and spent an agreeable half-hour in medita- 
tion. Went to the family burying-place, and 
remembered those who are mouldering there, 
one of whom (Sir James's father) I had inti- 
mately known. Imagined my dear husband 
and myself consigned to this narrow cell, and 
tried to look forward to the resurrection, and 
consider what alone can make it a joyful day 
to me. For life and death commended myself 
to my Redeemer, whose protection alone can 
avail in the solemn scenes through which I 
must pass. 

" June 3. — Was led to remember my fel- 
low-worshippers at Halkirk. Their new pas- 
tor, Mr. Munro, who has got the church from 
Sir James, so much to the satisfatction of the 



128 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

parish, was to preach there for the first time 
to-day. May the Lord, the Spirit, descend on 
pastor and people l n 

For more than a year anterior to this date 
the health of Lady Colquhoun had been very 
delicate, and her allusions are frequent to that 
event which the most skilful physicians told 
her was its probable issue. In the prospect 
her feelings were calm, humble, and, though 
solemn, full of confidence in God. 

" Oct. 27, 1822.— Last week I have felt far 
from well, which has led me to consider the 
possibility of this complaint still finishing my 
earthly career. The thought has done me 
good, and the prospect has not been dark. I 
have been enabled to view Christ as my eter- 
nal portion, and nearly to give up all besides. 
I feel wonderfully reconciled to leaving my 
husband and children, and I know I shall die 
or live as God sees best for me. Dear Lord, 
thou art at all times managing for the best my 
little concerns. Last week, also, I had a most 
interesting private conversation with Miss 
Jane Farrell, who now appears a true disciple. 



LIFE OF LADY COLCIUHOUN. 129 

I have seen her to-day, probably for the last 
time in this world, as she leaves Camstraddan 
on Tuesday for Ireland, and is shortly going 
to India, to be married. Well, in a future 
state l there shall be no more sea ;' nothing to 
divide the blessed inhabitants ; nothing to in- 
terrupt their communion. I hope I have been 
of some use to this interesting girl." 

Mr. Farrell was the proprietor of an estate 
near the Giant's Causeway, in Ireland; but 
his wife was in delicate health, and along with 
their three daughters they resided for four or 
five summers at Camstraddan House, near 
Luss. Young ladies so well informed, and of 
manners so pleasing, were welcome visitors in 
most houses of that neighborhood, and they 
were very often at Rossdhu. Miss Jane es- 
pecially drew towards herself the affectionate 
observation of Lady Colquhoun. A prepos- 
sessing appearance, good sense, a cultivated 
mind, a warm heart, and frank and lively 
manners, made her a universal favorite ; but, 
beyond a weekly attendance at the parish 
church, she gave no evidence of an interest in 
the things of God. And even this church- 



130 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

going was a mere formality. -'Have you re- 
marked that picturesque old woman who on 
Sundays sits on the pulpit stairs V' she one day 
asked her friends at Rossdhu. Of course they 
had. " Oh !' 3 said the amateur artist, " she is 
such a fine-looking old woman. I cannot take 
my eyes off her the whole time of the sermon, 
and I am painting her likeness from memory. 
I can carry away each Sunday an impression 
of her features sufficient to employ my pencil 
during the week.*' But. in conjunction with 
other circumstances, the prospect of leaving 
home solemnized her mind, and led her to ask 
whether, separated from all the means of grace, 
her religion had strength to stand? and this 
led to another question — whether she had any 
religion at all ? A severe mental conflict en- 
sued, and at the time when her thoughts were 
all engrossed with these anxious questions, at 
a dinner-party she met Lady Colquhoun. On 
leaving the dining-room the ladies went out 
to walk round the garden. Lady Colquhoun 
and Miss Jane Farrell having separated from 
the rest, in her own sweet and engaging" man- 
ner Lady Colquhoun introduced the subject of 
religion, and her young companion opened to 



LIFE OF LADY COLQXHOUN. 131 

her all her mind. After this their interviews 
were frequent, and as they were the principal 
means of leading this interesting inquirer into 
the light of the Gospel, they originated an 
ardent and life-long attachment. 

" Her last visit," says our informant, " is still 
fresh on my memory. It was a bright au- 
tumnal morning, and I well remember her 
light and elegant form, as she glided along the 
avenue, after bidding farewell to her friend and 
adviser." In company with Sir Edward and 
Lady Barnes she sailed for Ceylon, and was 
married to her brothers partner, Charles Scott, 
Esq. From her home among the cinnamon- 
groves she wrote to her friend on Loch Lomond 
letters brimming over with the fulness of her 
own felicity, mingled with occasional misgiv- 
ings as to her spiritual progress. " I possess 
great earthly happiness. I hear of my beloved 
family being in excellent health, and have the 
prospect of rejoining them in a very few years; 
and I have one of the kindest and most indul- 
gent husbands that ever lived. But all these 
blessings, instead of raising my heart in thank- 
fulness to the Giver of every good, and leading 
me to devote myself more to his service, seem 



132 LIFE OF LADY COLGtlTHOUN. 

only to bind my thoughts more firmly to this 
world ; and I am often made to fear that I 
shall be deprived of some of those great mer- 
cies I am so unworthy of possessing. Yet no 
contrition seems to accompany the knowledge 
of my own sinfulness, and I have generally a 
gaiety and happiness of heart which should 
only be produced by the hope of daily ad- 
vancing in meetness for the kingdom of heaven. 
When my prayers are cold and wandering. I 
feel I cannot deplore it as I ought, nor do I ask 
with sufficient earnestness for assistance to 
pray better; at the same time. I certainly do 
often feel the indescribable happiness of being 
able to trust in One mighty to save, and that 
it is not for our sakes that our prayers are 
accepted by God. I think I am gaining rather 
more knowledge of my sinfulness, and of the 
waywardness of my heart : but. as I said 
before, it is unaccompanied by sorrow for my 
offences, and does not diminish that lightness 
of mind which is certainly gaining on me.'' It 
was thus that Lady Colquhoun's gentle and 
guileless nature drew forth the confidence of 
her younger friends especially, and encouraged 
them to tell her " all that was in their heart ;*' 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 133 

for they were as sure of kind sympathy as of 
wise advice. And, perhaps, the fears of her 
ingenuous correspondent were not without 
foundation. God may have seen what she 
herself suspected, and in order to bring the 
roaming spirit back into its quiet rest, he sent 
the windy storm and the tempest. Six weeks 
after these lines were written Mr. Scott was 
seized by a fatal malady, and in a few hours it 
tore him from the arms of his distracted wife. 
A devoted missionary, Mr. Mayor, heard of her 
distress, and along with Mrs. Mayor, the be- 
loved sister of a man greatly beloved, — the 
Rev. E. Bickersteth, prevailed on her to come 
for a season to their calm and secluded abode. 
There she gradually regained composure, — at 
least serenity enough to benefit by the conver- 
sation and prayers of her deeply sympathizing 
friends ; and when, in 1828, she returned to 
her native land, although she brought with her 
a heavy load of sorrow, she also brought a 
mind uncommonly devoted to God. From 
Dublin, on February 13, 1829, she thus wrote 
to Lady Colquhoun : — 

"I have often intended writing to you. In 
the time of my deepest affliction, you were one 
12 



134 LIFE OF LADY COLGlUHOUN. 

of the very few my heart seemed to turn to, 
feeling that you would understand where con- 
solation can alone be found. I have indeed 
been in a strong fire of affliction since I last 
wrote to you. Oh ! that the fire had consumed 
more of the dross. Then I was at the height 
of earthly happiness. The fall was sudden 
and violent, and unless upheld by an Almighty 
arm, I must have perished in my affliction. 
On the first shock I was left to my own 
strength, and the mind wandered under the 
acuteness of anguish. It seemed as if I could 
not pray ; yet even the first look to Him whose 
compassions fail not, was answered, and in a 
way I could not have conceived before. I was 
made to experience my own inability to have 
so much as one thought, except by the help of 
God, and his wondrous power to shed into the 
soul the richest spiritual consolations in the 
midst of nature's woe. Oh the deep, deep, 
almost overpowering views then given me of 
the vastness of eternity ; and great in propor- 
tion was the consolation, when, by the tender 
mercy of God, there came back on the mind 
the transporting conviction that the soul, which 
seemed the dearer part of my own, was entered 



LIFE OF LADY COLGIUHOUN. 135 

on an eternity of blessedness, — that, as surely 
as Christ died and rose again, even so them 
also that sleep in Jesus will God bring with 
him. And the evidence that his state was 
such, was so abundant, as to raise my soul in 
wonder and gratitude. My earthly, backsliding 
heart had been so satisfied with present happi- 
ness as to be comparatively forgetful of spirit- 
ual ; but now I remember with indescribable 
comfort, these last seven or eight months in 
particular, the gradual, the beautiful change, 
that often made me exclaim to myself, ' I may 
have more of religion on my lips, but he has 
infinitely more of it in his heart.' The sting 
of my many omissions, in regard to his spirit- 
ual welfare, I thought at first could never be 
extracted ; but my compassionate God has 
been pleased long to remove it, and even 
change it into an additional motive of grati- 
tude to Him who did it all himself, and who 
did not allow my sinfulness to come in the way 
of the great work of His salvation." 

Then, after mentioning Mr. Mayor's provi- 
dential visit to her dying husband, and her so- 
journ in the house of the missionary and his 
" truly Christian wife," she concludes : — 



136 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,TJHOUN. 

" My voyage was such as to keep faith in 
constant exercise, — many dangers, but a pow- 
erful, protecting God appearing through all. I 
may humbly say, ' Hitherto hath the Lord helped 
me.' I am continually made to feel my weak- 
ness. Were I trying to look to earth, in any 
shape, for comfort, the heart would yet entirely 
sink under sorrow. But, blessed be our faithful 
God, who will never leave nor forsake us ; who 
can give us faith to rest in his promises ; and 
who can show the blessed termination, when 
those sundered on earth shall unite forever in 
praising and redeeming love. My dear Lady 
Colquhoun, I have given you a letter filled 
about myself; but I know you will join with 
me in praising the mercy and love of our Sav- 
iour God. Your letter was indeed most com- 
fortable to me. I received one from you at 
Baddagama, written when you thought me in 
the midst of earthly happiness. I was struck 
by your saying in it : ' If we cannot give our 
hearts to God, let us pray that he will take 
them — by any means take them.' You had 
little idea then that it required my best earthly 
treasure to be taken to heaven before I could 
feel that my all was there." 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 137 

The eighteen years of her widowhood were 
spent in a succession of ministrations to one 
invalid or afflicted relation after another, which 
in several instances appear to have been blessed 
to their everlasting salvation. At last, in the 
year 1845, and when she hoped to see again her 
spiritual parent, the Lord called her to himself. 
She said, when dying, i; I laid too much stress 
on the ministry of man, and delighted in it. I 
cannot now converse but with difficulty. God 
is drawing me off from all earthly props that I 
may lean solely on himself. How abundantly 
I felt the promise fulfilled last night ! The 
Comforter, the Holy Ghost, was indeed sent, 
and abundant was the supply of Scripture 
brought to my remembrance. Not merely 
what I had committed to memory, but large 
portions that I had not, came pouring in to 
comfort me." And as God had taught her to 
live upon himself, so she was very fearful of 
being too highly exalted, or too much spoken 
of by others. A diary which she had kept she 
destroyed before her death, and when told that 
a friend had written to inquire how she was, 
and how she had felt supported, she said, " I 
12* 



138 LIFE OF LADY COLQJJHOUN. 

can so well understand Mr. Simeon's feelings,"* 
and, like him, she for a moment or two waxed 
quite eloquent in extolling her Saviour, and 
disparaging herself; and like him also she 
silently departed, telling her attendant to keep 
the room quiet, for she was going to sleep. 

Thus, on earth they never met again, and 
in the many thoughts which followed her to 
her Indian bungalow, her Irish home, and her 
cottage on the brink of Niagara, in the fancy 
of her friend it was always the same Jane Far- 
rell. And though the widow's garb was worn, 
and though many griefs and watchings by sick 
beds had doubtless changed that pleasant coun- 

* " He was evidently much hurt at the thought of even his 
dearest friends coming round to disturb the privacy which he 
had always wished for in his dying hour. He had repeatedly 
charged me to keep every one away from him when that sol- 
emn season should arrive, and remain with him myself alone. 
* * * Next morning he referred to what had happened the 
previous night. ' ISTow, I was much hurt at the scene last 
night : a scene ! a death-bed scene I abhor from my inmost 
soul. ~No !' he continued, smiting three times slowly on his 
breast, ' ISTo ; I am, I know, the chief of sinners ; and I hope 
for nothing but the mercy of God in Christ Jesus to life eter- 
nal ; and I shall be, if not the greatest monument of God's 
mercy in heaven, yet the very next to it ; for I know of none 
greater.'" — Cams' Life of Simeon, p. 810. 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUX. 139 

tenance, no change came over that ardent, in- 
genuous, and self-devoting mind. And down 
to the close of life 3Irs. Scott retained a fervent 
attachment to Lady Colquhoun. and in her let- 
ters fondly reverted to the happy days when 
u first she knew the Lord/' and when they 
were wont to take sweet counsel together. 
" Dear, dear Lady Colquhoun. I have indeed 
often thanked God for bavins riven me such a 
Christian friend. When my mind was awak- 
ening, you were the first that spoke home to 
me. You first directed me plainly to Jesus, 
and encouraged me with the assurance that 
He would carry on the work which He alone 
could commence. And. dear friend, what in- 
creasing comfort there is in that view, grounded 
on God's own Word, that He will perfect that 
which concerneth us. and will not forsake the 
work of his own hands. What a God we have ! 
God in Christ. Truly you say, • The end of 
our trials is to endear to us Jesus, and loose our 
hold of everything else.' ' ; Of these trials the 
meek writer had many, and one was the loss 
of the letters addressed to her by her endeared 
correspondent. During a sojourn at Kingston, 
Upper Canada, the house in which she was re- 



140 LIFE OF LADY COLCUJHOTTN. 

siding was burnt to the ground, and we cannot 
forbear inserting a portion of the letter in 
which she describes the calamity. April 8. 
1837 :— 

" You kindly said you would send me ' The 
Kingdom of God. 5 All my efforts to procure it 
have been vain, and, alas ! its beautiful sister, 
which I prized so much, is gone. "Where? 
like many other fair and lovely things, to dust 
and ashes. We were living in greater comfort 
than I ever expected to meet in Canada : too 
much at ease, no doubt : when one night a fire 
broke out below us. The flames spread rapidly, 
and all our worldly goods were consumed. It 
w r as night ; the house, of course, in total dark- 
ness, and all sound asleep, till wakened by 
loud cries of ' Fire !' Our rooms were at the 
greatest distance from the hall, and worst 
situated for escape. The fire originated in a 
hardware store under the boarding-house, and 
when we got outside the house we heard there 
was gunpowder in the store sufficient to blow 
it up. Two explosions there were ; but they 
did no additional harm. So there we stood, in 
the snow, watching the fierce flames forking up 
from our rooms, so shortly before the picture of 



LIFE OP LADY COLQUHOUN. 141 

peace and comfort. Nothing could be done, 
and the whole of it was so ordered that one 
could only offer it up into His hands who can 
make all things work together for good, and 
pray that we might effectually learn the lessons 
it w r as meant to teach. Besides much valuable 
property, I have lost all my books and written 
papers and letters, my Indian things, with all 
mementoes of beloved friends and past times. 
Another hint to forget the things which are 
behind, and press forward. But why do I thus 
detail our little losses ? I meant not to do it. 
Rather let me speak of the great gain, the ever- 
increasing comfort of the promises, and of our 
Lord's love, who in every trial condescends to 
speak such peace as raises the heart to Himself 
in continual thanksgiving. When I think of 
what I deserve I can only wonder at his gentle 
dealings. He often says, l What I do thou 
knowest not now, but thou shalt know here- 
after ;' and he graciously lets so much of his 
hand of love be seen in every trial, that it is 
easy work to trust him with the remainder." 

Of the many letters which Lady Colquhoun 
addressed to this youngest sister "in the king- 
dom and patience of Jesus Christ," we are thus 



142 LIFE OF LADY COLQTJHOUN. 

precluded from offering to the reader any 
specimen. But even this slight record of so 
dear a friend may reflect some light on the 
character of Lady Colquhoun. It shows, at 
least, how alert she was for opportunities of 
doing good, and how graciously God honored 
her consistency and prospered her fidelity. Nor 
will it be a vain digression if it enkindle in the 
reader or the writer aspirations after that 
heavenly-mindedness and holy skill which 
made the subject of this biography a living 
epistle, and which so frequently converted 
morning calls and evening visits into " walks 
of usefulness." 



CHATTEli IV. 



NO CHASTENING FOR THE PRESENT SEEMETH TO BE JOYOUS, 
BUT GRIEVOUS*. NEVERTHELESS AFTERWARD IT YIELDETH THE 
PEACEABLE FRUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS UNTO THEM WHICH ARE 
EXERCISED THEREBY. HEB. XII. 11. 



What causes the freshness which gives the flower 

Its scent and its summer hue ? 
It came in the dark and midnight hour 

In drops of heavenly dew : 
So, often in sorrow the soul receives 

An influence from above, 
Which beauty, and sweetness, and freshness gives 

To patience, and faith, and love. 

EDMESTON. 



The last extract from her Journal repre- 
sented Lady Colquhoim as suffering from en- 
feebled health. This trial was of long con- 
tinuance; but it was sanctified. It turned 
her thoughts more stedfastly towards that 
world of which she thought it likely that she 
might so soon be an inhabitant, and it roused 
her to make more efforts for the good of that 



144 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

one which she was leaving. Amongst other 
plans of usefulness was one which, abruptly 
suggested, would have startled her diffident 
and retiring nature ; but the idea stole on her 
so gently, and the process went on so imper- 
ceptibly, that almost before she saw it formida- 
ble, she found it a fact accomplished. During 
those languid months when debarred from ac- 
tive employments, she might often be observed 
seated on her camp-stool, beside the lake, or 
in some sheltered spot, and with her pencil 
tracing her meditation as it rose. And as such 
papers grew upon her hands, and she felt 
some pleasure in perusing them, the thought 
occurred that in a connected form other people 
might read them, and might haply derive some 
profit. And she liked the scheme all the 
rather when she thought how isolated she 
was,— how few, comparatively, came within 
her personal influence, and how seldom, even 
to those few, she could talk on the things im- 
porting their eternal peace. So that this ex- 
pedient of addressing them anonymously in 
little books seemed quite the plan for doing all 
the good and shunning all the notoriety. 

Her first publication was the tract to which 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 145 

reference has already been made.* With that 
scrupulosity which strikingly distinguished her 
character, it was entitled, "A Narrative found- 
ed on Fact." Although every particular was 
stated with all the accuracy of an excellent 
memory, yet, as she had taken no notes at the 
time, and could not answer for every turn of 
expression which occurs in the dialogue, she 
thought it needful to insert this qualification. 
The story is not only essentially true, but it is 
an affecting record of God's grace. It will be 
read with much advantage by those who are 
in the habit of visiting their poor or afflicted 
neighbors, and we believe that it has been the 
means of conveying to some troubled spirits 
light and comfort. 

Next year, viz., in 1823, appeared "Thoughts 
on the Religious Profession and Defective 
Practice of the Higher Classes of Society in 
Scotland. By a Lady." This little volume 
she wrote with an especial eye to her own 
personal acquaintances ; and though it did not 
excite general attention, under her incognito 
she was frequently cheered by knowing that 
it had fallen into the very hands for which she 
* "Despair and Hope." See p. 100. 

13 



146 LIFE OF LADY COLGtUHOUN. 

designed it, and that in some cases beneficial 
results had followed. 

This encouraged her to give to the world, in 
1825, '" Impressions of the Heart, relative to 
the nature and excellence of Genuine Relig- 
ion.*' Even in its nameless disguise this work 
was widely circulated, and from its good sense 
and high-toned spirituality, along with the re- 
finement of taste and delicacy of feeling which 
it everywhere betokened, many of her personal 
friends suspected the authoress. And its pop- 
ularity has not exceeded its merits. Of that 
artistic skill which makes the most of materi- 
als, and which, in the pages of some celebra- 
ted female essayists, brings out effects so bril- 
liant, Lady Colquhoun was nowise ambitious; 
and here and there it would be easy for an 
ordinary critic to balance the antithesis more 
nicely, or nib into a sharper paradox the pun- 
gent aphorism. But to a higher order of readers 
these beautiful essays bear a special charm, by 
reason of their graceful ease and natural truth- 
fulness. Like the conversation of their com- 
piler, they are genuine and inartificial, sponta- 
neous and heartfelt : but still the utterance of 
a mind whose every tendency is upward, whose 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 147 

every association is with things pure and good 
and elevated. And in such chapters as -'The 
Invisible Mark," " Cease ye from Man." " The 
Ascent of the Mountain," " The Celestial Vis- 
itant," and •• The Multitude before the Throne," 
we are persuaded that all congenial minds will 
eagerly respond to the devotional fervor, the 
bright but chastened fancy, and the holy fidel- 
ity in which the gifted authoress has so well 
transcribed herself. Calm, cheerful, Christ- 
loving, no book could be more rightly named 
than these " Impressions of the heart ;" for, 
according to the Indian's definition of writing, 
she who penned them has " pressed her soul 
on paper." 

"Edinburgh^ 117, George-street. Jan. 19, 
1823. — After dinner, being unable to read aloud 
from my cough, I had a most interesting con- 
versation with a very dear friend for whom I 
prayed with tears and faith. Since last Sab- 
bath, and indeed before it, I have been remark- 
ably happy in my devotional exercises. I have 
secured more time for them, and have been 
confined at home, my cold hindering me from 
going to several parties. I have also been 



148 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

busily employed in a work that seems strange 
to myself. Early last summer my little book 
was published, and has met with acceptance ; 
I even heard one instance in which it had been 
beneficial ; praised be God ! And I am now 
attempting something on a larger scale, though 
whether or not it will see the light, I cannot 
tell. But I have been earnest in my prayers 
for direction and assistance, which encourages 
me to hope it may be blessed. Amen. 

"March 2. — Again detained at home by a 
cough, which has never entirely left me since 
coming here. My frame has been far from 
lively : but I have had some feeling thoughts 
of my wants. Read TrailPs Works with great 
pleasure ; they are full of spiritual food. My 
book came out last week. I have prayed to 
be kept out of sight, and to be honored as an 
instrument in the hand of God. Who knows 
what good may be done ? I have also prayed 
to be kept humble if it should meet with any 
approbation, and I am not sensible of any ela 
tion regarding it. If it should pass with little 
notice it could do me no harm. 

" 23. — Attended in the Canongate and in St. 
George's, and heard two excellent sermons. 



LIFE OF LADY C0LQ,UH0UN. 149 

Mr. Thomson's, on the value of the Scriptures, 
was very striking. The duties of the evening 
were performed as usual, and at night I really 
prayed. This day has been comfortable ; but 
last week I was much in company, and I seem 
as unable as ever to withstand its influence. 
I am almost weary of repeating my conviction 
of guilt, of weakness, of earthliness ; but each 
day proves it, and every period of my life. In 
town I fancy I should be better in the country ; 
in the country I imagine a change of means 
would enliven me. No. It is myself I would 
fly from. O wretched being, who shall deliver 
me ! I thank God, through Jesus Christ, my 
Lord. 

" Rossdhu, June 1. — One great cause of 
complaint with regard to myself I think is, 
that I live too little upon Christ. I could not 
live without him : but I forget my need of 
daily and hourly supplies from his hand of 
support and grace. I forget to ask his aid, not 
merely formally in the morning, but often, and 
as my necessities arise. I forget to hold with 
him a continual intercourse of prayer and 
praise ; in short, to live by his constant 
bounty, as the Israelites lived by the heav- 
13* 



150 LIFE OF LADY COLQ.UHOUN. 

enly manna. — It has given me no small 
concern to find that I am suspected by some 
as the author of my last little work ; but I 
have entreated my Lord to manage for me 
everything concerning it, and I am confident 
he will. 

" 8. — No sermon at Luss, being the Sacra- 
ment at Bonhill. Have, during the forenoon, 
been very happy in reading and prayer, and in 
conversation with Sir James on the great and 
glorious events which we are led by prophecy 
to anticipate as very near. In all probability we 
shall be laid in the grave before the time is ful- 
filled; "but still the prospect is cheering, that 
the kingdoms of this world shall become the 
kingdoms of the Lord and his Christ. 

" 22. — Thanks be to his mercy, the love of 
Christ — that long-wished-for grace — of late has 
dawned upon my heart. I have been more 
alive to my Saviour's beauty, and have felt my 
dependence upon him for everything, alike for 
one moment's comfort, and for the happiness of 
a whole eternity. My intercourse and com- 
munion with him have been sweeter, and I can 
cast on his care myself and all my concerns. 
I feel the inferiority of creature love. Amen ; 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUX. 151 

thus be it to thy poor worthless child more and 
more, dear Lord ! 

; - July 13. — Since last Sabbath a power- 
ful temptation has occurred to my mind, and 
damped my joy. It was first impressed upon 
me that our Lord is not equal with God the 
Father ; but after searching my Bible, this text 
set me at rest regarding that point, •' Making 
himself equal with God,* an inference which he 
does not deny, John v. IS. But here my spir- 
itual adversary did not rest ; for being relieved 
as to that point I was next tempted to doubt 
the truth of revelation. Sad was my heart for 
some days as I labored to recollect the evi- 
dences that the Scriptures are divinely inspired. 
I felt that Satan was envious of my hope in 
God, and strove to destroy it ; and fet doubt 
would force itself on my mind. If I had no 
God on whom to rest, all was lost Among 
other books, c Watson's Apology' has been of 
use in leading me to see the reasonableness of 
belief in Jesus. That the facts recorded in 
the Bible are true, profane as well as sacred 
history testifies ; and if these are true, Chris- 
tianity is true. O Lord, confirm my weak and 
wavering; faith ! 



152 LIFE OF LADY COLat'HOUN. 

•'•13. — My faith is confirmed. The proofs 

from prophecy, from miracles, from the life of 
Christ, from the tendency of the Gospel, and 
many others, are indeed satisfactory. And 
now. Lord, what wait I for 1 my hope is in 
thy word. 

"20. Communion Sabbath. — When I con- 
sider the price paid for our redemption, how 
marvellous is the theme ! So familiar to our 
thoughts has it become that we can scarcely 
reflect on the amazing truth that God suffered 
to save us. may I forever live to praise him ! 
He suffered in no slight measure, but intensely. 
and with the natural dread and aversion from 
agony that we all feel: yet calmly, resolutely. 
and with the dignity which his divinity alone 
could inspire. 

"Aug. 31. — Death has made an inroad on 
my real friends. My old and faithful servant. 
Morris^ has gone to her eternal rest, full of 
days, at the age of eighty. She brought up 
my beloved Hannah and me. not only with 
care and affection, but with an endeavor to 
lead us in the paths of piety. I rejoice to think 
that we were a comfort to her in her declining 
* See p. 14 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 153 

years. And dow I alone am left of our nur- 
sery circle. Both the departed have gone. I 
trust, to glory. Oh may I follow. 

" Oct. 5. — Have to complain to-day of a life- 
less heart. What a difference is there between 
the duties of religion as performed when the 
blessed Spirit enlightens, warms, and purines. 
and when all is the outward act ! I hope, how- 
ever. I am not wrong in relying on the Saviour 
for acceptance, even in performing duties such 
as these. He is perfect, and through his sacri- 
fice and righteousness my poor services will. I 
trust, be pardoned and received. In going to 
church I saw a melancholy scene. The ex- 
cessive rain of last night had flooded whole 
fields of corn, and in some places the sheaves 
had floated into the lake, and the poor people 
were trying to save them. 

•• 117. George-street^ Edinburgh^ Feb. 15. 
1824 — Oh how shall I praise the Lord for his 
goodness ! Last week I was much in company. 
and alas, alas ! I much forgot my God. But 
hearing that this was the Communion Sabbath 
in the Canongate Chapel, though without the 
possibility of devoting any time to preparation, 
I resolved to attend, and never did I enjoy more 



i 



154 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUX. 

of the presence of God at his table. Oh ! he is 
kind, he is gracious to a poor. weak, inconsist- 
ent, lifeless creature. Every word of 3Ir. Tail's 
exhortation reached my heart. He exhorted 
us first to remember our transgressions, our 
short-comings in duty, our unworthiness. I 
thought, I am sure this is for me. But having" 
wounded he healed, and next pronounced the 
mourner ; blessed.' He then exhorted us to ex- 
pect largely, for here God smells a sweet savor 
in Christ crucified ; and he concluded by en- 
forcing holiness. — yea. to shine with the lustre 
of holiness, while we exhibit the depth of hu- 
mility. Returning home. I prayed to my ex- 
alted High Priest with very much feeling, giv- 
ing myself entirely up to him. and imploring 
his blessing on me and my family for evermore. 
In the evening I read to my young people and 
servants with pleasure, and all the day have 
felt near to God. united to him in covenant, 
complete in Christ. 

" Rossdhu. Sept. 5. — Last Lord's-day I was 
in Edinburgh, having gone for medical ad- 
vice. . . . Attended St. George's with benefit : 
but. alas ! I have to record an act of transgres- 
sion in return for the Lord's mercv towards me. 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 155 

I was living at the British Hotel, and Mrs. — — 



asked me to dine with her after sermon. We 
never accept invitations on the Sabbath ; but 
somehow I agreed, as we were to remain only 
two days in Edinburgh, and the following one 
was to be spent with my father's family. It did 
not occur to me that I had done wrong, till I 
found how the evening was employed, and then 
all the objections to my going occurred in full 
force : my own loss of spiritual feeling; example 
to others : the remark of one asked to meet me, 
but who did not come, and which stung me to 
the quick. — "I am sure I may do what Lady 
C. does :' besides the employment of servants 
in preparation. &g. O Lord, pardon this wilful 
offence, and may I never thus spend thy holy 
day again ! 

" Oct, 17. — Being employed last week in 
some deeds of mercy, rejoiced to think that such 
was the frequent employment of my Lord. 
"Was delighted in reviewing his character, and 
longed for greater assimilation to it, 

a Nero* 21. — Have been again in Edinburgh, 
Went with Sir James to witness my sister Julians 
marriage to Lord Glasgow, an event which 
gives satisfaction to the whole family. 3Iay it 



156 LIFE OF LADY COLGITJHOUN. 

be blessed to their everlasting good ! It was 
the time of the Edinburgh sacrament. I at- 
tended in St. George's and was pleased, but I 
fear not much edified. This day, at home, 
with no means but my book, my heart has been 
with God. 

" 4, Charlottes quare, Edinburgh, Jan. 16, 
1825. — I have been weak and low, and pre- 
vented last Sabbath from writing here ; but I 
cried unto the Lord and showed before him my 
trouble, and he listened to my supplication. 
To-day have been twice to St. George's, and 
particularly blessed in the afternoon : the ser- 
mon upon ' abounding more and more in reli- 
gion.' My intended work, ' Impressions of the 
Heart,' is in the press. Oh for a blessing upon 
it ! Lord, hear my many prayers for this ! Let 
it find acceptance with the world. Give it ac- 
cess, not only to the closets, but to the hearts of 
thy people. It is indeed much to ask from a 
means so inconsiderable; but, Lord, make it 
extensively useful. 

" Feb. 6. — On Friday, accompanied by Sir 
James, my brother George, Mrs. Sinclair, &c, 
drank tea with Dr. Colquhoun of Leith. It 
was truly affecting to hear the venerable man 



LIFE OF LADY C0LQUH0UN. 157 

discourse on prayer and other religious topics, 
He gave me and mine his fullest blessing, and 
I was refreshed by the visit." 

As has already been noticed. Dr. Colquhoun 
was a native of Luss, and, of course, a member 
of the clan. For nearly fifty years he was 
minister of the New Kirk, Leith ; and to his 
solid and systematic expositions of Scripture 
hearers resorted not only from the city of 
Edinburgh, but from places as remote as Dal- 
keith and Newbattle. Besides Boston and the 
Erskines, his theological models were Witsius 
and Meestricht, Voetius and Cloppenburg, and 
his own mind had all the system and precision 
of a Dutch Divine. No modern better merited 
the title so often bestowed on the puritans, — 
" a painful preacher of the holy Gospel." His 
expositions were ready-made commentaries, 
and every sermon was a chapter in a forth- 
coming treatise, whilst his deliberate enuncia- 
tion, like an audible typography, rendered 
ample justice to every italic, dot, and hyphen. 
It would, however, be a great mistake to fancy 
that he was a mere systematise Much as 
they valued his methodical arrangement and 

14 



158 LIFE OF LADY COLCIUHOUN. 

exhaustive copiousness, the best of his hearers 
prized still more his affectionate applications 
of the truth, and the singular judgment with 
which he handled questions of conscience. 
And in the midst of his mild catholicity, to 
many there was a peculiar charm in his cov- 
enanting fervor. Some of them can still re- 
member with what pathos he used to pray that 
the Most High " would revive the credit of a 
covenanted work of reformation, that he would 
repair the carved work of the sanctuary, which 
had been broken down, and build up the 
breaches of Zion, which are wide as the sea ;" 
and they can tell how, in concluding an expo- 
sition of the Psalms which had lasted seven- 
teen years, he remarked, " I have much reason 
to bless the Lord that I have never, like many 
of my brethren, been so far left to myself as to 
use in the public worship of God hymns of 
human composition."* 

* It must be regretted that, in common with so many dis- 
tinguished ministers of the Church of Scotland, Dr. Colqu- 
houn has passed away without any tribute to his memory. 
The natural repositories — the religious magazines of the coun- 
try — are vainly searched for fuller notices. In the " Christian 
Instructor," vol. xxvi. p. 860, two of the most remarkable 
ministers of that day are thus disposed of: — 



LIFE OF LADY COLQJJHOUN. 159 

Except in theological soundness, the minister 
named in the next paragraph was a great con- 
trast to Dr. Colquhoun. The fair 3 soft coun- 
tenance, surmounted by its sleek, yellow wig, 
the measured tones and quiet air of the outer 
man, were in true keeping with the phlegmatic 
temper of the South-Leith divine ; and as true 
an index of his lofty idealism and sanguine 
through-going, were the tall form, the brilliant 
but pensive eye, the nervous gait, and the im- 
passioned address which marked the pastor of 
Strathblane. By nature a recluse, and rejoicing 
in a splendid library, his philanthropy and his 
love of freedom drew him frequently into public 
life, and eventually health and life were lavished 
in efforts to break up the religious apathy of a 
singularly callous neighborhood. With pe- 
culiar emotion the writer sometimes recalls those 

"Died, 28th Oct. (1827) the Rev. Dr. Thomas Davidson, of 
Muirhouse, one of the ministers of Tolbooth Church, Edin- 
burgh, in the 81st year of his age and 57 th of his ministry. 

" 27th November, the Rev. Dr. John Colquhuon, Minister 
of the Chapel of Ease, Leith, in the 80th year of his age, and 
46th of his ministry." 

For the above notice of Dr. Colquhoun the Editor is in- 
debted to his esteemed friend, Mr. Rowan, of the Free Col- 
lege Library, Edinburgh. 



160 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

magnificent exhibitions of redeeming love with 
which his own boyhood was familiar, and 
winders how, like his felknv-parishioners, he 
was so little thrilled by their grandeur, so little 
softened by their tenderness. To Lady Col- 
quhoun, however, these attributes of the ardent 
evangelist were a sufficient attraction ; and, 
after the death of Dr. Buchanan, the minister 
who enjoyed most of her friendship was Dr. 
Hamilton. And it is only because her fittest 
biographer died before her, that another pays 
to her Ladyship's memory this tribute of in- 
herited respect and attachment. 

" March 13. — Have been much in the society 
of the pious during the past w T eek, and it has 
been blessed to me. I had an unexpected call 
from Dr. Hamilton of Strathblane, which gave 
me great pleasure. He wishes that I should 
give my name to the next edition. Oh ! what 
shall I, what should I do? Lord, take it or 
not as thou wilt, and may my fears, or perhaps 
vanity, be quite excluded. I would stand by, 
as having nothing to say in the decision. Let 
thy glory and thy pleasure be the rule, and 
influence my mind according to these. On 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 161 

Tuesday was at a delightful meeting for the 
Irish. On Thursday heard Dr. Gordon preach 
a charity sermon for diffusing religious know- 
ledge among the poor. Friday dined with my 
brother George, and met Mr. Wynne, and some 
others ; and yesterday George took me to call 
for Lady Carnegie. All these advantages have 
not been entirely lost upon me, but have been 
the means of raising my heart to God. Oh how 
delightful will be the society of heaven, ever 
with one another, and ever with the Lord ! 

" Rossdhu. July 17. — Our communion. My 
mercies are new and my feelings varied. In 
the first place, I have been greatly hindered in 
heart-work by bodily weakness. When I 
would pray, I incline to sleep ; and I have 
been greatly exhausted both to-day and yes- 
terday. Surely my Lord, my own Lord Jesus, 
who was himself united to humanity, knows 
this. Would a kind father say to a worn-out 
child, Get up and work ? May I not rather 
hope that the Redeemer's language to me is, 
'the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak?' 
Nevertheless I did come to Christ, and I did 
hope in him ; and I do feel some love to my 
adorable Saviour. With something of joyful 
14* 



162 



LIFE OF LADY COLQXHOUX. 



anticipation I look forward to being with him 
forever. Here. I am laboring to catch a spark 
or two of celestial fire : but oh ! to have it 
blazing around me. enlightening and warming 
my whole affections in the paradise above! 

"May 2S. 1526. — (Beginning a new volume 
of the MS. journal.) My life wears apace ! 
My appointed time is running on. years roll 
over and are gone. Where are those with the 
occurrences of which I rilled my last little vol- 
ume ? They have lied : but the remembrance 
of them lives not only in that little book, but 
in the mind of the eternal God. Each thought 
and every action is present with him. even as 
if it were only passing now. Then what a 
poor creature do I appear ! and how rich is his 
mercy in compassionating and blessing such ! 
I commence this book: shall I finish it? or 
shall this hand be arrested by death, and shall 
these fingers be consigned to the grave to mix 
with their native earth 1 Lord, thou knowest. 
But whatever awaits thy child, be present, my 
God. to cheer, to support, to strengthen, to 
sanctify, to glorify. Amen. Sir James has 
been absent about a fortnight, attending" the 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 163 

General Assembly, of which he is for the first 
time a member. 

"July 9. — Oh how great is thy goodness 
towards them that fear thee ! towards them 
that hope in thy mercy! Thou hast refreshed 
the soul of thy poor weak servant, my God ! 
Last week we had the happiness of a visit for 
some days from Mr. Malan of Geneva, with 
whom James resided for a year. He is a most 
devoted servant of God. and has been the in- 
strument of arousing, and I hope confirming, 
my too wavering faith. He dwells much on 
the necessity of assurance, and even appears 
to think it essential to saving faith. In this 
last I cannot agree with him ; but I am con- 
vinced we doubt when we ought not. "Where- 
fore doubt ? Is it not the truth of God that we 
doubt ? Perhaps our sins are the cause. Well, 
cleave the closer to the Saviour ; we shall not 
fall away if he upholds us. Or, we are not 
sure that we have come to Christ. Then come 
now. To-day I am unable to attend the 
house of prayer ; but oh ! how sweet were my 
morning hours, when all the family were at 
church. Surely, Lord, thy dear servant who 
was lately here cried mightily unto thee for 



164 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

me, and thou hast heard his petitions. Present 
thou wast, even as if I had seen thee with 
me. I read the eighty-sixth and eighty-ninth 
Psalms. In the latter I read that 'in thy 
righteousness I am exalted.' The righteous- 
ness of God ! noble thought! clothed with this, 
how perfect am I ! where can blemish be found ? 
I read that ' Thou, Lord, art my strength.' 
Then I shall never, never forsake thee, but go 
on from strength to strength. I read that 
' Thou, Lord, art my defence.' Then evil 
cannot assail me. No, what I think evil is 
good, God stands between me and all harm. 
Let that barrier be broken, if it be possible ! I 
read, 'The Holy One of Israel is my King, 
and help is laid on One that is mighty.' Oh! 
what a King ! Dear Lord, thou art mighty, 
thou art holy ; I will fight under thy banner ; 
I will rejoice in thy name all the day long. 

"Edinburgh, Feb. 11, 1827. — Have once 
more heard good Dr. Marshman preach from 
Romans xii. 1. Had likewise the pleasure of 
meeting him at my brother's house last week. 
With my heart I gave him the right hand of 
fellowship. We may never meet again on 
earth, as he is going very soon again to India, 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 165 

to live and die in his Master's service there ; 
but I trust we shall meet in the multitude of 
the redeemed around the throne. My prayers 
ascend for him that he may be supported in 
whatever trials he is called to endure, and that 
after turning many to righteousness he may 
shine as the stars forever and ever. 

" Rossdhu, July 22, 1827. — A sweet day 
this, for though not in his temple, I saw the 
beauty of my King. I was prevented going 
from indisposition, which however did not pre- 
vent enjoying myself at home. I sat by the 
water's edge, and in my little summer-house, 
with the Bible ; and the loveliness of Jesus 
never appeared to me more apparent. How 
kind, how gracious his words ! I have been 
thinking a good deal on the doctrine of assur- 
ance, of which much is said since Dr. Malan's 
visit to Scotland. It appears to me plain that 
assurance is perfectly warrantable in any sin- 
cere believer, and ought perhaps to be more 
pressed upon such, than is often done ; but I 
cannot exclude all who have it not. It is a 
grace, a gift, and is not given to all; and I do 
believe that saving faith exists without it. 
Does not our Lord himself speak of weak faith, 



166 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOTJN. 



accompanied by doubting? [Matt xiv. 31. 
I feel, however, that unbelief is sinful, and do 
indeed hope, and am confident of beiug my- 
self accepted, freely, for His name's sake. 
Mrs. Baillie and my sister M. are he 

" Edinburgh. Feb. 3. 1828. — Mr. Tail's ser- 
mon was from these words. -0 Israel, thou 
shall not be forgotten of me.' and it did me 

:i. Oh the height and the i of the 

love of God! I have i m forgotten of 

him : nc tten in youth, not forgotten in 

trial, in care, in sickness; not forgotten when 

Qing, aim ; God. Nor shall my 

little unimportant concerns be forgotten while 
I live ; nor shall I be forgotten to eternity! 
Precious promise ! for days of sore trial may 
x>me. but if God remembers Lis poor child 
they shall be mitigated. And none of my 
prayers are forgotten. Lord. I would ac- 
knowledge when I have myself forgotten 
them, thou hast often brought them to my 
recollection by granting their petitions. 

*'• March 30. — In the evening went to my 
brother George's, where Mr. Mejanel discours- 
ed on the type of the Brazen Serpent. "We 
had a little conversation on prayer, and he is 



LIFE OF LADY COLdUHOUN. 167 

almost the only person I have found who 
seems to have completely my own views on 
the subject: that 'all things whatsoever we 

ask in prayer, believing, we shall receive.' I 
know not what words to use stronger or clearer 
than the language of this delightful promise ; 
and why is it not credited 1 Mr. M. said that 
real Christians are warranted to expect assur- 
edly an answer to every prayer which they 
can offer without doubting of its success ; be- 
cause this confidence is given by the Spirit of 
God ; because his Word declares that when 
they pray believing, they receive their peti- 
tions ; and because they will not be permitted 
by God thus to ask and yet ask amiss. By 
many this would be thought presumption or 
enthusiasm : but it has long been my belief, 
founded on experience and the promises. 

" 18, Circus. Edinburgh. April 5, 1829. — 
This is the last Sabbath previous to my beloved 

? s leaving me. I feel strangely in the 

prospect of her being removed from my care. 
and sorrowfully when I think of the days that 
are past, her infant years as well as those when 
she has been my sweet and cheerful com- 
panion. This marriage is the subject of my 



13S LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

ardent prayer ; therefore it is well, it is right. 
I know the Lord hears his poor ungrateful 
servant, and this completely satisfies me as to 
the result. 

" Rossdhu, April 26. — My beloved H. and 
Mr. R. are now in London. They have been 
peculiarly on my mind to-day, and I have 
again and again prayed importunately for 
them. I rejoice in this ; for I know that pray- 
er, real prayer, is heard ; and therefore I be- 
lieve that spiritual and eternal blessings await 
my children. I am happy to add that since 
my return home, I have felt spiritually minded, 
which is life and peace. I feel confidence in 
God, and commit all my concerns into his 
hand, believing that he will manage for me, 
what might seem immaterial to a fellow-worm, 
but which is not beneath the notice of the 
Eternal. I expect to have more tokens of his 
faithfulness yet to write of. 

" Edinburgh, March 20, 1831.— I feel that I 
am not living for God solely and exclusively, as 
I ought to do, and as his people do. I feel a 
worldly, carnal spirit, and a sort of put- off re- 
ligion which quiets the conscience, but which 
does me little good, and is not the radical prin~ 



LIFE OF LADY C0LQUH0UN. 169 

ciple influencing every thought. I know it is 
worldly care which has hurt me, and that 
Satan has found out a point in w^hich I am in- 
deed vulnerable, my anxiety respecting my 
family ; and he tempts me to forsake the foun- 
tain of living water and hew out broken cis- 
terns, which can hold no water. 

" Rossdhu, June 12. — Another happy Sab- 
bath spent at home. This being Bonhill sac- 
rament there is no sermon at Luss. The in- 
fluences of the Spirit were certainly visible this 
day in leading my heart to God. The charac- 
ter of Christ appeared to me in something of 
its genuine loveliness. I could pray with fer- 
vor, and feel what I read. Dr. Hamilton's 
'Mourner in Zion comforted,' I found in 
many parts in unison with my own experi- 
ence, and I read it with pleasure. Thus, 
when God is pleased to breathe on these dry 
bones they live. It may be needless to repeat 
that I am nothing, and can do nothing, but I 
am deeply sensible of the truth of it. My 
family having grown up, their various in- 
terests, and connections, and plans have cer- 
tainly led me in heart more into the world 
than I ever expected to be ; but the Lord is 
15 



170 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

faithful ! He will find a method of escape, 
and surely I shall enter glory, shouting, 
i Grace, grace? 

" Regency-square, Brighton, Nov. 27. — Last 
Lord ; s-day was little like the Sabbath to nie. 
I was in the steam-vessel, and unable to sit up 
at all from sickness. But in my little berth I 
remembered my God, and was enabled to con- 
fide in him. Some repairs necessary to the 
safety of the ship, which had encountered a 
storm in coming from London, rendered a de- 
lay of two days necessary, and thus I w r as com- 
pelled to be at sea on Sunday, which I had 
particularly planned to avoid. Our passage 
was perfectly safe, and my prayers respecting 
it all heard. Was one day in London. How 
affecting to see that place ! so many interesting 
years have elapsed since I was there before, 
and two of my dearest friends there, my much- 
loved sister and excellent nurse, Morris, are 
gone to glory. On my way here I saw Mr. 
Maitland, of Clapham ; — Oh ! how changed ! 
He is quite helpless from palsy ; but he is one 
of the Lord's people, and all is well. Nothing 
could be better ordered than everything has 
been respecting this journey. Sarah and James 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 171 

have accompanied me. and Sir James is to fol- 
low in January. Mr. Reade* and Helen we 
found well, and they are to be with us here. 
The Lord has fixed the bounds of our habita- 
tion in a good and cheerful house, and to crown 
all, my heart has been much with him in prayer 
and praise. Went to St. James's and heard an 
excellent sermon. — { The name of the Lord is 
a stronsr tower. 7 What a tower of strength that 
name has been to me ! And shall it not con- 
tinue to be so till death, in judgment, and 
throughout eternity ? 

" Jan. 1. 1S32. — Have again been twice at 
church, first in the Chapel Royal, where I saw 

their Majesties, and heard the Bishop of 

preach. I trust the truths of the Gospel may 
sometimes bless the Royal party, but certainly 
it was not so to-day. I felt interested in our 
Queen, who seems religiously inclined. 

" Jan. 15. — Have again listened with much 
pleasure twice to Mr. Elliot. Sir James ar- 
rived here in perfect safety last week, and my 
brother George is also with us. He gave a 
noble proof to-day of devotedness to the King 
of kings. When an invitation from the palace 
* John Page Reade, Esq., of Stutton, Suffolk, her son-in-law 



172 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

came for him to dine with our monarch on this 
sacred day. he did not hesitate a moment to 
send a refusal, which he did in most respectful 
and affectionate terms. How this will be taken 
it is impossible to say ; but I rejoice that an 
opportunity has been afforded my brother of 
showing his sincerity at the Court, and that I 
have a brother capable of acting thus. May 
the Almighty bless and preserve him !" 

The incident to which the foregoing extract 
relates afforded great delight to Lady Colqu- 
houn. Her brother was staying with her at 
the time, and as valued relics she preserved 
the card of invitation, dated, " Pavilion, Jan. 
15, 1S32," and a copy of the answer which she 
sought leave to transcribe. And we are sure 
that Sir George Sinclair will forgive the publi- 
cation of that letter if it contribute, however re- 
motely, to a cause which he has much at heart. 

" Sire, — No one can value more highly than 
I do the honor and privilege of being at any 
time permitted to enjoy that social intercourse 
with which your Majesty hSs, on so many 
occasions, been pleased to indulge me for so 
many years. But I am fully aware with how 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 173 

much consideration your Majesty enters into 
the feelings and sympathizes with the wishes 
of those whom you honor with your friendship. 
I have for some time past been led to entertain 
very different notions from those which I once 
cherished as to the observance of this day, and 
subscribe fully to the views which the Church, 
and I may add, the legislature, have laid down 
with respect to its importance. Encouraged by 
the latitude of discussion which your Majesty 
has so long and so kindly vouchsafed, I lately 
took the liberty, though in opposition to your 
Majesty's opinion, to maintain that not merely 
a part but the to hole of this day should be 
devoted to those great purposes for which 
divine authority has set it apart. I may be 
permitted to add, from grateful experience, that 
this decision has its reward even here. I have 
found that God honors those who honor him, 
and, though encompassed with sin and infirmi- 
ty, I can testify, that he is not an austere 
Master, that he has strength for all our weak- 
nesses, indemnity for all our sacrifices, and 
consolation for all our troubles. 

" I feel bound, on principle of conscience, to 
deny myself, what is always one of my most 
15* 



174 LIFE OF LADY COLQ.UHOUX. 

valued gratifications, that of paying my hum- 
ble and most affectionate respects this day, and 
must rest satisfied with renewing in my retire- 
ment those earnest supplications for your 
Majesty's health and happiness which are 
equally dictated by regard for the public wel- 
fare and by a thankfully cherished remem- 
brance of much distinguished and unmerited 

kindness. 

u I have the honor." &c. 

The sequel was no less worthy of the King. 
Next morning, whilst they were seated round 
the breakfast table, a royal messenger arrived 
charged with an invitation to the Pavilion that 
evening. His Majesty made no allusion to 
the letter ; but to show how perfectly he appre- 
ciated the motives of his guest, he went beyond 
even his usual urbanity and kindness : and to 
the close of his reign no interruption occurred 
in a friendship equally honorable to the accom- 
plished commoner and to the frank and warm- 
hearted monarch. To every pious subject it 
must also be a source of lively satisfaction to 
know that in the Pavilion itself originated 
measures which have materially tended to 
promote the better observance of the Sabbath 



LIFE OF LADY COLaUHOUN. 175 

in Brighton. It is said that there were certain 
arrangements in the Royal household which 
undesignedly entailed a large amount of Sun- 
day labor ; but when the facts were repre- 
sented to Queen Adelaide, she immediately 
commanded that the orders in question should 
be given on Monday instead of Saturday as 
heretofore ; and this act of Christian consider- 
ation has been extensively copied, to the great 
relief of many a laundress who formerly could 
not a remember the Sabbath-day to keep it 
holy." In unison with this tribute to the 
Divine command was the injunction of our 
present Queen, forbidding the exhibition, on 
the Lord's-day, of the state-apartments at 
Windsor Castle ; an act which, along with 
Her Majesty's patronage of the Sabbath-ob- 
servance movement among the working class- 
es, has given a much-loved Sovereign an addi- 
tional claim to the gratitude and attachment 
of a Christian people. 

And here we may notice the loyalty of Lady 
Colquhoun's religion. She had no ambition to 
" dwell in kings' houses," and notwithstanding L 
the favor in which both her father and brother 
stood with successive sovereigns, her biogra- 



176 LIFE OF LADY COLQXHOUX. 

pher is not sure that, she was ever presented at 
Court. And when on the occasion of the 
Royal visit to Edinburgh in 1S22, her husband 
went to do homage to George IV., from aver- 
sion to scenes of gaiety and grandeur she for- 
bore to accompany him. But frequent al- 
lusions in her diary showed how eagerly she 
hailed every indication of piety in high places, 
and how mindful she was to make intercession 
for kings and all in authority. She*bad links 
of attachment to the throne which gave to her 
loyalty a sentiment more affectionate than the 
duteous feeling of an ordinary subject ; and it 
would be well for the land if the same personal 
and prayerful interest in its rulers were shared 
by a larger portion of the religious community. 

" London, March 25, 1S32. — We returned 
here last night, after spending a few days 
pleasantly at Mr. Fuller MaitlancPs. "We are 
on our way to Stutton, where we intend being 
to-morrow. At Kingston, I went with Miss 
Massie and saw my beloved dster's grave ; it 
is in a pretty and peaceful resting-place. The 
chancel of the church where she is laid is ven- 
erable and very spacious ; there she will arise 



LIFE OF LADY C0LQUH0UN. 177 

at the resurrection of the just. I have felt ani- 
mated and invigorated by intercourse with the 
pious. Oh for grace to follow the footsteps of 
the flock ! To-day I again had the privilege 
of hearing Mr. Howells, and having a pencil I 
wrote down a few of his striking observations. 
From the first lesson for the day (Gen. xxxix.) 
he noticed the superiority which God's people 
may acquire over temptation ; that our best 
security from it is in flight : that the reality of 
our principles is generally in some way or 
other tried ; and that we may learn from this 
chapter tenderness to delinquents, which Poti- 
phar showed to Joseph, believing him guilty. 
The second lesson was in John xii. ; from 
which he observed that our Lord's humiliation 
was real, and not like man's, who is often 
proud of it; that Christ's death was as neces- 
sary for our salvation as that w T heat must be 
put into the ground before it springs again ; 
that the beauty of God is holiness, and how 
can we hope to attain beauty in anything 
else ? The sermon was from Jeremiah xxxii. 
40. He said, God puts his fear in the heart 
and keeps it there. The will of God is all 
holy and good, and when we shall know 7 all 



178 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

his counsel we shall rejoice in it forever. The 
fear is in the believer's heart ; his whole heart 
is changed to love what God loves. He has 
motives to fear and love God that angels have 
not. They were not redeemed from sin and 
saved by Christ's death as he is. Believers 
fear God from his moral perfections. They 
fear him in his providence. Have we then 
seen the beauty of God in his holiness ? Have 
we experienced the pleasure of religion ? And 
do we rejoice in the appointments of God? 
He concluded thus : God appoints everything 
for me, I know it is best for me, I have nothing 
to do with it, but rest satisfied with his will. 
Everything is welcome that God wills. I shall 
rejoice in it hereafter, and I will rejoice in it 
now. I need have no anxiety, for all is ar- 
ranged by infinite wisdom, and by my Father. 
" Hossdhu, June 10, 1832. — There is again 
no sermon in this parish, and again I am 
spending the day happily and profitably. En- 
joyed much trust and confidence in prayer. 
Read over a year or two of this book, — the lat- 
ter part of it ; and with thankfulness and 
pleasure I trace that religion has advanced 
during the last twelve months. Before this 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 179 

there was a season of declension. I know 
well by whose power the good seed is pre- 
served ; and I thank God and take courage. 
I was much gratified to observe more attention 
to religious reading in my family than com- 
mon. I went out with the Bible and read 
at the side of the lake, with much pleasure, 
the last chapter of St. Luke. I have also sat- 
isfaction in the instruction of my maids, who 
were all attentive and interested. 

" Sept. 16, 1S32. — I hope I continue in a 
frame of mind more like a Christian, than I 
sometimes experience, but I am far from mean- 
ing that any high degree of devotional feeling 
is my attainment. My best days are thus 
spent in prayer ; I feel that I address an ex- 
alted Friend, who, I believe, listens to and an- 
swers my supplications. I feel a greater sense 
of the reality of the being and presence of God, 
I go from prayer, like Hannah, ' with my coun- 
tenance no more sad.' I feel a greater solici- 
tude that myself and others should do the will 
of God, I feel a greater satisfaction in think- 
ing of God and a future state, and I am more 
reconciled to the thoughts of leaving the world. 
And then all seems bright and cheering, for I 



180 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

commit my present and future concerns to the 
guidance of Almighty power and wisdom. 
Such as this, is the most I know of experimen- 
tal religion : ecstacies or any rapturous emo- 
tions were never mine. Perfect, Lord, that 
which concerneth me ! 

" Leamington, Royal Hotel. March 3, 1833. 
— I have been here more than a week, and have 
reason to bless God for many things regarding 
my removal from home and the state of health 
in which I found my dear H — . We are com- 
fortably settled here, and I commit my way to 
the Lord, trusting in him. My religious feel- 
ing has been very low of late, but seems to re- 
vive in some degree to-day. I have not been 
able to attend public worship, having caught a 
bad cold on the journey. 

'-March 17. — I certainly have to lament 
(yet how little, in truth, do I feel it !) that re- 
ligion is at a very ebb low with me at present. 
I have been twice at church to-day, and in the 
morning heard a scriptural sermon from Mi*. 
Pope ; but I have little feeling of the truths of 
the Gospel. In the evening I had the cham- 
ber-maids of the Hotel up, as I had last Lord's- 
day. to read and explain to them from the Bi- 






LIFE OF -LADY COLQUHOUN. 181 

ble, and I was interested and did my best to 
make the way of salvation plain to them. I 
have also been distributing tracts here." 

It would be a disastrous winter which should 
surprise us in midsummer ; but the great Crea- 
tor has a way of bringing it so gently on that 
the world is ready for its arrival, and all the 
better for its visit. The day shortens ; the 
forest seres ; and the world is warned. The 
air cools ; the fervors of the solstice are forgot- 
ten, and before the frost appears the world is 
acclimatized. And by a process somewhat 
similar, when grief is coming our Heavenly 
Father often forewarns and fortifies his chil- 
dren. So was it with the subject of this biog- 
raphy. In her serene and happy domestic life 
the summer was now past and the harvest 
ending ; but God forewarned her. She saw 
with steps progressive, though not startling, 
that disease advancing which was to summon 
from beside her the husband of her youth; 
and the impression of approaching widowhood 
was strengthened by a dream which so fastened 
in her memory that she could not shake it out. 
But she had a still better preparation. There 

16 



1S2 



LIFE OF LADY COLGlUHOl'X. 



is no fence against the storm so effectual as 

vigorous health and a pulse firmly bounding ; 
and God gave her the preparation of soul-pros 
perky. The last quotation from her journal 
complains of languor : the next extracts will 
show how delectation and trust in God revived, 
and how by beneficent labors she was regaining 
spiritual tone and elasticity. Nor, in connec- 
tion with the sequel, will the reader fail to ob- 
serve that special providence which called her 
attention so seasonably to the treatise of the 
good old Puritan. 



" RosscViil April 28. — When thinking over 
the ways of providence. I saw in a bookseller's 
shop Flavel's -Divine Conduct of Providence.' 
Struck with the title I bought it. Every word 
came home to my heart and to my experience. 
Oh let me praise the Lord for wonderful com- 
passion to a poor sinful worm ! I feel safe in 
his everlasting arms, and in believing that he 
will perform all things for me. 

" May 5. — To-day I am at home, having a 
cold, or probably influenza, which is all over 
the kingdom at present. I bless God that my 
frame of mind, although not particularly lively 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 183 

in religious duty, is settled, calm, and not 
without interest in the subject. I have been 
enabled to pray in reality and to commit every 
concern to God, and to view him ordering all 
my little affairs as if there were no other being 
to care for in the universe. It is thus only 
that we can bring it home to our hearts that 
the great God careth for us ; for we are apt to 
imagine that, like man, He cannot manage so 
much at once, and will be forgetful of what is 
infinitely interesting to his creatures. Flavel's 
book on Providence continues to charm me, 
being completely in unison with ail my expe- 
rience. All that he says I have known and 
felt. 

u June 2. — Since writing the above I have 
been in Edinburgh, with Sir James. His 
medical attendant there (Dr. Wood) has pre- 
scribed various remedies, but evidently thinks 
seriously of his complaints. O Lord, fit and 
prepare him and me for whatever may be thy 
will respecting him. I feel assured that God 
is ordering everything for the very best as 
regards him ; and one thing gives me the 
greatest pleasure, — the religious impressions 
my dear husband seems to feel. 



184 LIFE OF LADY COLaUHOUN. 

" July 30. — I was at church and taught the 
school. Oh ! forever blessed be the Lord ! 
I now feel as if on a rock, as if God will as- 
suredly so manage every concern for good that 
no evil shall ever befall me. I do commit my 
way to Him, and trust also in Him. The 
children whom I teach at the school appear in- 
terested, and I am encouraged to hope for a 
spiritual blessing to them. Amen. 

" October 27.— To-day I took leave of the 
Sabbath-school, the days being too short to 
admit of teaching it. I spoke to the girls as 
impressively as I could, and was happy to ob- 
serve the greatest interest in most of them. 
The regular scholars, after a short vacation, 
will meet for religious instructions on Mon- 
days. I rejoiced this Sabbath in the Lord, 
who performeth all things for me, and in whom 
I am complete. Nothing beside him have I to 
trust to for temporal or spiritual benefits, — yet 
what more would I desire than a Divine Re- 
deemer ? 

u Jan. 12, 1834.— Have heard of the death 
of my dear Christian sister-in-law, Mrs. Camp- 
bell, of Stonefield. She died at Pau, full of 
peace and hope.. She will be an irreparable 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 185 

loss to her family, and a real loss to me. 
May I be enabled to follow her steps, for they 
lead to glory ! 

•• Edinburgh. April 6. — Was much gratified 
last week by finding that my little work, { Im- 
pressions of the Heart.* is completely sold oflF 
and out of print, and that another edition is 
called for. To me it is a very pleasing thought 
that it is now in the hands of so many. I feel 
a hope that the Lord will use me for his glory. 
I thank God and take courage in the prosecu- 
tion of the work I am now writing. Neither 
will be published till next winter, as this town 
will soon empty now. 

" Rossdhu. April 20. — Once more settled in 
our beautiful abode, where nature, or rather 
nature's God, has done so much to charm the 
eye. I have much reason for gratitude that 
my dear husband has been so much benefited 
by medical advice while in Edinburgh. We 
have all returned in prosperous circumstances; 
but I am detained at home to-day by a rheu- 
matic pain in the face, which has been trouble- 
some for more than a week. This forenoon it 
is easier : and, along with the Bible, I have 
been reading NefPs interesting ' Memoir.' 
16* 



186 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

Have felt rather stupid and sleepy ; but our 
merciful High Priest is touched with a feeling 
of our infirmities. 

" May 18. — 1 was enlivened in religious 
respects last week by a visit, for a single night, 
from good Dr. Malan, of Geneva. It is now 
eight years since he was here before ; and 
although I was not so much impressed by his 
conversation as I then was, still I think I was 
sensibly benefited by it. I am led at present 
to live nearer to God, with a more simple 
dependence upon him for everything. This 
day I was more spiritually minded than last 
Sabbath, and employed myself as usual. 

" Dec. 7. — Experienced real joy this morning 
in considering that some works of mercy I 
lately performed are acceptable and pleasing to 
God. This was no self-righteous feeling ; for 
I well know with how much sin all I do is 
mingled: but it was delight in thinking I had 
pleased my best Friend. I continue happy in 
communion with him, and trusting in his grace. 

" May 3, 1835.— My kind Christian friend, 
Dr. Hamilton, of Strathblane, is, alas ! no more. 
He died, after a short illness, a fortnight ago. 
Last week I paid my first visit to the prison at 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUX. 187 

Dumbarton. I have undertaken to superintend 
the female prisoners. May a blessing rest on 
my poor endeavors !" 

It was by the excellent Mrs. Fry that Lady 
Colquhoun was first enlisted in the arduous 
business of prison-visitation. In a letter written 
to Mrs. Reade about this period she alludes to 
these labors : — 

"I was very much interested in the poor 
depraved boy, and have succeeded in obtaining 
permission to have him taught to read, about 
which I was very anxious, as in this way access 
would be got to his mind. And much to my 
gratification I have got a very fit person to 
teach him. He is a schoolmaster in the place, 
and enters zealously into the business. He 
went to see his scholar when I was there, and 
said he had never met with such deplorable 
ignorance. The youth had never seen a Bible, 
had never heard of a God, excepting to hear 
his name ta.ken in vain, and had never entered 
a church. His master is to strive to instruct 
him in religion along with the A, B, C. I also 
visited the poor woman the day before she was 



188 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

liberated. She received me with great pleasure, 
said she £ had been through the book I gave 
her, three times, 5 and expressed much gratitude 
for some tracts I left with her. I asked if she 
would read them. i Yes ma'am, that I will,' 
said she, i and take them wi' me wherever I 
go.' She is poor, and after thinking whether I 
ought to give her money or not, as she is rather 
too covetous! I ventured to give her half-a- 
crown, thinking she might have nothing when 
she left the prison. This quite overcame her, 
and she only said, ' Ma'am, I do not deserve it,' 
with tears in her eyes." 

"July 12. — I have seen much since last I 
wrote here," the journal resumes, '-having 
been with Sir James and Sarah in Ireland. I 
spent two Sabbaths very happily there, — the 
first in Dublin, where I heard Mr. Matthias, 
of Bethesda Chapel, preach, and Mr. Stewart, 
of Union Chapel, both dear servants of God. 
The sermon of the latter, on the influences of 
the Spirit, came home to my heart ; and the 
whole service, which was in the Presbyterian 
form, seemed to do me good. The next Sab- 
bath we were at Cushendall, on our way to 
the Giant's Causeway, — a sweet little village, 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 1S9 

and where there is a Gospel ministry. I en- 
joyed the whole day, and my heart seemed 
alive and happy. I distributed some tracts in 
poor Ireland, which were gladly received, even 
by the Catholics. On our return to Belfast, I 
was gratified to meet some apparently very 
serious Christians, in a shop of the name of 

M £ . One of the sisters gave me a phial 

of their lavender water as a remembrance. 

" Sept. 13. — Have been in Edinburgh, where 
my dear husband's health called me. He 
consulted Dr. Abercrombie and Dr. Wood. 
The opinion of both seems to be, that his com- 
plaints are alarming. I have long thought so. 
Oh ! may the Almighty fit him for death, if 
such is His will, and give me strength of body 
and mind for whatever scenes await me. 

" Sept. 20. — My dear Sir James having been 
worse than usual, we have fixed on going to 
Edinburgh to reside, on Tuesday next. This 
is, therefore, my last Sabbath here for the 
present; and, alas! it appears to me probable 
that the term when I inhabited this retired 
and beautiful abode is now about to end. If 
so, the Almighty will again fix the bounds of 
my habitation, and I shall be where it is best I 



190 LIFE OF LADY COIQUHOUX. 

should. I have endeavored to call my beloved 
husband's attention to what I conceive to be 
his real state, and I have the heartfelt satis- 
faction to see him anxious to prepare for life 
or death. To-day I remained at home with 
him. Everything regarding our removal to 
Edinburgh seems providentially arranged. My 
God continues good. 

" 110. Princes-street. Edinburgh. Sept. 27. 
— We have been here for some days, and all 
has been mercifully ordered respecting our 
removal. My dear husband is. on the whole, 
better, and has been able to-day to attend in 
a small chapel in Young-street, where we 
have got seats, and where a truly pious young 
man. of the name of Moody, preaches. I 
have felt rather enlivened from his preaching 
and prayers, for I have been dull and dead in 
a great measure to spiritual things. One 
thought has cheered me. — that it appears to 
me I could give up everything here for God. 
were I called to it ; and did I see Him as He is. 
I think I shall soon require all the consolation 
the Gospel affords, and I shall rot need with- 
out enjoying it. He who has brought me 



191 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

hitherto, and supported me in every emergen- 
cy, will continue to do so to the end. 

" Sunday. Nov. 1. — Since writing" here this 
day fortnight, there is no very material change 
in my dear charge. I am still passing through 
the dark scene of my nearest earthly relation's 
death, or rather its forerunners. He has talked 
to me frequently of his religious hopes. He lies 
like a little child at the foot of the cross. He 
says he is willing to be saved in Christ's own 
way, and to serve God to all eternity, and to 
cast his crown at the foot of the Lamb as 
humbly as any in heaven. I have always 
prayed, at least to see him die in the Lord, and 
trust my merciful, forgiving Saviour has re- 
ceived him into the number of his own. This 
is the sacrament Sabbath here. I am unable 
to leave Sir James long, but mean to attend a 
table service in St. George's, and perhaps the 
evening sermon. 

" Jan. 3, 1836. — This new year has come 
mournfully in to me,— my father just dead, my 
husband without hope of recovery ! But still 
the Lord liveth ! Blessed, said the Psalmist, 
be my Rock ! God is indeed a Refuge from 
the storm. O that I could lean more on a 



192 LIFE OF LADY C0LQ,UH0UN. 

Foundation so sure ! There is no risk that it 
will totter, or fail me. 

"24:th. — Still my dear Sir James lives. He 
is the shadow of what he was. His medical 
attendants give me no hope that he will long 
survive. Perhaps ere this hallowed day re- 
turns, he may be gone to the house appointed 
for all living, and his spirit may be rejoicing 
among the blessed. I wait the sovereign will 
of my Lord, and believe that He is doing well. 
Last night, in reading a sermon of my late 
worthy pastor, Dr. Buchanan, I was reminded 
of his practical piety ; and the beaut)' of the 
Gospel precepts captivated me. I remembered 
former days, when the purity of the lessons of 
God's "Word was so much my delight. I felt 
as if I had lost ground, and earnestly prayed 
to grow and shine in universal holiness." 

Mournfully passed that long winter ; nor 
w r ere their toils who watched over the sufferer 
cheered by any hope of recovery. " The post 
of observation darkened every hour f and to 
affection it made the trial greater that the 
mental faculties at last partook of the body's 
extreme exhaustion, and left little power of 



LIFE OF LADY COLGtUHOUN. 193 

intercourse. But to Lady Colquhoun it was a 
ceaseless comfort, and it helped to inspire her 
fervent prayers, that up to the last hour of con- 
sciousness her beloved husband listened with 
meek earnestness to every portion of Scripture 
which she read, and joined devoutly in every 
petition offered in his hearing ; whilst in pros- 
pect of his coming change, he uniformly de- 
clared that the Saviour was his only hope. 
During these silent watchings word was 
brought that her venerable father was laid 
aside from his long and patriotic labors ; and, 
throughout his brief decline, Sir James found 
a melancholy source of interest in the com- 
munications which daily went and came be- 
twixt their sick-rooms. 

On the 21st of December Lady Colquhoun 
spent some time with her father, and in the 
course of conversation he expressed a wish 
that she would affix her name to her publica- 
tions. Two hours afterwards the tidings of 
his death gave touching import to the inter- 
view, and added to the request the solemnity 
of a dying charge. Sir John was gathered to 
his fathers from the midst of a hale old age 
and its cheerful occupations ; and in a few 
17 



194 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

weeks some of the mourners who encircled his 
grave in Holyrood Chapel, were called to join 
the sable procession which, up the Yale of 
Leven, and through the solemnized hamlets, 
conveyed to the ancestral cemetery the dust 
of his son-in-law. As it passed, one aged 
clansman was propped up in bed, and when he 
saw the hearse containing the lifeless form of 
his much-loved landlord, the old man fainted 
away ; and everywhere was manifested the 
emotion of a people reverential to old lineage, 
and grateful to the proprietor whom constant 
residence had converted into their friend and 
protector. It was a fine winter's day, and the 
sunshine had suspended the frost, when, round 
the old "chapel," \j: ere congregated the ten- 
antry of Luss, Row*, and Arrochar, as well as 
many friends, and the gentlemen of the coun- 
ty, and, borne on the shoulders of three 
Grants and three Colquhouns, the coffin was 
lowered into its appropriate resting-place.* 

* Sir John Sinclair died Dec. 21, 1835, aged eighty-one. 
Sir James Colquhoun died Feb. 3, 1836, aged sixty-one. The 
usage above mentioned has obtained since the time of Sir 
James Grant. He married Anne Colqnhonn, heiress of Luss. 
Their eldest son succeeded to the Grant estate, and was an 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 195 

Soon after, the sanctuary where so many gen- 
erations sleep was set in order, and in its roof- 
less solitude, or beneath the shadow of its co- 
eval evergreens, the widowed survivor often 
lingered ; and there she often mused on the 
day when, in the rising of His redeemed, the 
Saviour shall complete His own resurrection, 
and consummate their felicity. 

The following is the passage in the journal 
which records this most solemn occurrence in 
her personal history : — 

" Feb. 7, 1836. — At length my fears are 
realized ! He to whom I was related by the 
nearest earthly tie, departed this life on Wed- 
nesday the 3d, and has left me to mourn his 
loss. I was indeed long prepared for the blow; 
yet nature will feel, nor are we forbidden to 
weep. I dread being more sensible to the 
affliction hereafter, as there is a bustle incident 
to such a time which has a tendency to divert 
the mind, and, alas ! to rob us of the improve- 
ment we might derive from it. Apparently 
my beloved husband suffered for fourteen hours 

ancestor of the Earl of Seafield ; their second son succeeded 
to the estate and baronetage of Colquhoun. 



196 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

before rather severely ; but his medical attend- 
ants assured me that from want of conscious- 
ness he was not sensible of pain. Yesterday 
the dear remains were deposited in the coffin ; 
I loved to look at them, and feel grieved that 
they must be removed from my care. The 
key of the room I kept, and many times I had 
looked on the countenance, which fully retained 
the likeness, and was placid and serene. O 
Lord, I would trust that he is justified freely 
by thy grace, that he is accepted without 
money and without price. This was all his 
hope and all his desire. And now be to me a 
husband, a father, a sanctifier, a strong tower 
to which I may continually resort. All my 
hope centres in thee, my God, my all \ n 

It was during this sad and anxious winter 
that the new edition of her " Impressions'' was 
published, as well as a companion volume, 
entitled " The Kingdom of God." In obedi- 
ence to both her father and husband she now 
overcame her natural sensitiveness and placed 
her name on the title-page ; and there can be 
no doubt that this authentication added weight 
and interest to works which the religious com- 






LIFE OF LADY COLQ,tJHOUN. 197 

munity had already learned to appreciate. 
How little of literary vanity mingled with 
what was truly a Christian sacrifice may be 
seen from the following extract : — 

" Jan. 10, 1836.— Last week I did what I 
never expected to do. I gave my name to the 
public as the authoress of my books ! Not two 
hours before he died, my father requested that 
I should do so, and my dear husband always 
wished it ; so that, from concurring circum- 
stances, I have thought it the will of God. 
And now, O my God ! for thy honor and the 
good of men I have made some sacrifice ; 
therefore in mercy use my works to promote 
these glorious purposes." 

Amidst many communications received from 
sympathizing friends during that sorrowful 
spring, none was more welcome than the letter 
of her true-hearted correspondent in Canada, 
Mrs. Charles Scott. It is dated from the 
" Cottage of the Falls, U. C, April 25, 
1836:— 

ml Need I tell you with what deep interest I 
read your letter from Edinburgh, my very dear 
17* 



198 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

Lady Colquhoun. It was long on the way, but 
the sight of your handwriting gladdened my 
heart in this distant land, when it did arrive. 
It tells me of affliction, of the Lord's hand 
being at work, but shows me, at the same time, 
a mind resting on the Rock of Ages, a heart 
supported by the everlasting arms, and much, 
very much sweetness mingled in the cup ad- 
ministered by the hand of Love. I cannot tell 
you, dear Lady C, how much I long for further 
accounts of you. Your venerable father's 
death I had seen an account of in the news- 
papers. But your threatened affliction in Sir 
James's illness, I had not heard of, and do not 
now know if it may have pleased our Lord to 
give an unexpected turn to his illness, or if 
you are a ' widow indeed.' If such is the case, 
I have not the slightest doubt that you con- 
tinue to find our faithful God very present with 
you, leading you to experience the fulness of 
many promises, which before you read and be- 
lieved, but had no opportunity experimentally to 
prove. He who has been precious to you, and 
present with you so long, who gave you quiet- 
ness of soul in the midst of outward trouble, 
will, I doubt not, continue unceasingly so to the 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 199 

end. This I know, but yet I long much to 
hear particulars from yourself. What a strong 
foundation the Christian stands upon, for time, 
as well as for eternity. God in Christ includes 
all that can be desired • and though our sins 
may appear deeper and darker each year that 
passes over, yet it does not seem to depress, but 
to raise the heart in increased thankfulness to 
Him who pardons them all, who ' blots out, as 
a thick cloud, our transgressions, and as a 
cloud our sins.' .... This situation, so far as 
temporal matters are concerned, is most desira- 
ble for a summer residence. Nothing can ex- 
ceed the grandeur of the Falls, and no pen 
could give the least idea of them. We are 
within about ten minutes' walk of the upper 
bank, and the view from this cottage is very 
beautiful : the rapids of the Niagara river Just 
above the Falls, dashing on in continued foam, 
till lost in the dense body of spray, generally 
ascending from the Falls. The winter has 
been the most severe experienced for twenty 
years, the thermometer varying from zero to 
16 ^ below it. Extremely unpleasant such cold 
is to the feeling, but it has pleased God to con- 
tinue us all in good health." 



CHAPTER V. 



FORGETTING THOSE THINGS ^WHICH ARE BEHIND, AND REACHING 
FORTH UNTO THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE BEFORE, I PRESS 
TOWARD THE MARK FOR THE PRIZE OF THE HIGH CALLING 
OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS. PHILIPPIANS ILL 13, 14. 



Since the dear hour that brought me to thy foot, 

And cut up all my follies by the root, 

I never trusted in an arm but thine, 

Nor hoped but in thy righteousness divine. 

My prayers and alms, — 

Forgive their evil, and accept their good ; 

I cast them at thy feet — my only plea 

Is what it was, dependence upon thee : 

While struggling in the vale of tears below, 

That never fail'd, nor shall it fail me now. • 

cowper's "truth." 



Gently as Lady Colquhoun woke up to 
her bereavement, and notwithstanding- the re- 
doubled assiduities of an affectionate family, 
the desolate reality sometimes overpowered 
her j and, though still able to regard it as her 
home, her return to Rossdhu next spring re- 
vived in all its anguish the w r oful consciousness 



LIFE OF LADY COLGIUHOUN. 201 

of widowhood. And it was many a day be- 
fore the bright landscape shone again through 
that thick crape in which grief had veiled it. 
Long afterwards we find her recording,— " I 
feel the loss of my very dear husband's society 
more than I did shortly after his death. To me 
there is an inexpressible blank in this house, 
and I would gladly leave it. However, I ought 
to be thankful for the many mercies which 
still surround me. and should cast my care on 
my covenant God, believing that he does 
right." Nor did her covenant God forsake her. 
Mournfully released from her long ministra- 
tions in the sick-room, and no longer called to 
discharge those multifarious duties which she 
had so thoroughly and gracefully fulfilled, " her 
Maker was her husband," and she gave her- 
self to the Lord's work with new consecration. 
In Sept. of that year she writes to her married 
daughter : — 

" I should have particularly liked to be more 
alone when Mr. Moody was here ; but who 
knows but a blessing might be sent to others 
through his visit ? He came very opportunely to 
help me about my favorite plan — the chapel at 



202 LIFE OP LADY COLQUHOUN. 

Helensburgh. Mr. M. got quite interested in 
the subject, and in Glasgow went to different 
influential clergymen to state the matter to 
them. They said, so liberal a proposal should 
never be rejected, though it were only to set an 
example to other landed proprietors ; and one 
said that for a long time he had heard of noth- 
ing which gave him so great pleasure. So I 
trust yet to make it out. Another church also 
interests me much at present. One of James's, 

in Caithness (W n), has become vacant. 

The son of the late incumbent seems so very 
superior a young man, that, however much I 
am opposed to the c hereditary succession,' I 
think he will be the minister. J. appears to 
leave it entirely to me to decide, and, thanks 
be to God for so great a blessing as. the power 
of placing in this parish a devoted pastor. 
This is a long story about churches ; but, oh, 
dear H., my heart is full of the subject. The 
interest I feel in religion deepens, and fain 
would I impart somewhat of it to those who 
are dear to me. I feel that the time to im- 
prove for this purpose is short ; that c the night 
cometh when no man can work ;' and earnestly 
do I pray that my EL may be brought to the 



LIFE OP LADY COLGtUHOUN. 203 

foot of the cross, there to seek and to find that 
satisfaction of spirit which she will find in 
nothing else." 

Helensburgh is a much-frequented watering- 
place on the estuary of the Clyde, and within 
the Luss estate ; and the scheme for providing 
it with a chapel of its own was the first of 
several Church-extension movements to which 
Lady Colquhoun largely contributed. The 
chapel of her Edinburgh pastor, Mr. Moody, 
was another, and though these erections were 
soon forfeited to a very different ministry from 
that which the pious donors contemplated — 
nowise disheartened, with the new emergency 
she redoubled her munificence ; and after this 
she was so impressed with the spiritual destitu- 
tion of overgrown towns and manufacturing 
villages, that it became a ruling object in her 
life to provide more Christian teachers and 
more sanctuaries. Like the father of church- 
builders,* she could not 'give sleep to her eyes, 7 
till she c found out habitations for the mighty 
God ;' and, like the projector of the temple, her 
devout intentions and self-denying gifts were 
requited with soul-prosperity. 
* Psalm cxxxii 



204 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

In her Sabbath-school she now formed an 
adult class, and adopted a system, which she 
thus announces to Mrs. Reade : — 

"I have begun a new plan at our school on 
Sundays — a class for grown-up girls. They 
commit nothing to memory. But I explain 
the Bible and Catechism. I adopted it in con- 
sequence of seeing Mr. Moody's on Monday 
evenings. The class is flourishing and always 
increasing. Several old people attend regu- 
larly, and I hope to have more. My own 
maids also asked leave to go ; so, with the 
children, I have a pretty large congregation, 
and it needs some nerve. But I hope to be 
enabled to go on, and I hear it is much liked. 
May God send a blessing !" 

These " Horse Sabbaticee" were not only 
very popular, but became extremely useful. 
During the week her Ladyship studied with 
much care the passage which she intended to 
explain, and exerted herself in finding anec- 
dotes and illustrations which might render it 
more interesting and memorable. Her man- 
ner was full of calm benevolence and mild 
persuasion ; and whatever nervousness she 
might feel, her address was so fluent, natural, 



LIFE OF LADY COLGIUHOUN. 205 

and dignified, that the thoughts of the audience 
were solely directed to the subject. In unison 
with that devout and holy life which they all 
knew that their kind instructress led, these ex- 
hortations were singularly impressive. On a 
dying bed more than one of her young hearers 
gave evidence of having been by this -means 
brought to the Saviour ; and from the grateful 
tenderness in which many of the survivors 
hold their teacher's memory, it may be hoped 
that all her " works'' have not yet " followed" 
her. It is to these Sabbath-evening exercises 
that the following entries in her Journal 
refer : — 

"Rossdhu, July 30, 1837.— My Sabbaths 
are now much occupied in preparing to address 
my class, which I do at some length. Every 
week it has increased, and though we had two 
additional benches to-day, there was scarcely 
room enough for them. I am much encour- 
aged, and this morning prayed so earnestly for 
a blessing, that I feel confident it shall be given. 
Earnest prayer is a gift, and is bestowed when 
God designs to hear. I always feel fagged in 
the evening afterwards, and can do little. 
18 



206 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

" August 6. — Being Arrochar sacrament, no 
sermon at Luss. I was, as usual, occupied 
with the school. There were fewer this even- 
ing, as many of them had gone to Arrochar. 
My God was present in prayer at night. Last 
week my son James was elected Member for 
the county. John and his family leave us to- 
morrow. 

" Sept. 3. — Have little to say to-day but 
that I was much gratified by a very large at- 
tendance at the school. There was scarcely 
room for any more, and there must have been 
above sixty present. I likewise observe with 
great pleasure the appearance of interest in 
some who attend ; in one or two I think I can 
scarcely be mistaken. Have been much as- 
sisted in preparation for my class, and, at the 
time, in speaking to them and in prayer. To- 
night feel inspirited, yet cannot say that devo- 
tional feeling is strong. 

" 17. — Lady Sinclair, and Diana and Cathe- 
rine are here. They went with me to the 
school and appeared much pleased. The 
children proved a number of doctrines very 
well. 

" October 8. — Have prayed very earnestly 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 207 

to-day, and with great pleasure have read the 
1 Life of Brainerd.' At the school had a good 
attendance. Went to bed joyful, the words, 
' He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting 
life/ being delightfully impressed on my mind. 
The freeness of redemption, and the simplicity 
of believing came to me with clearness, so that 
I could not but say, I do believe I have ever- 
lasting life. 

" 15. — Penitence was in exercise this morn- 
ing. It was the last day of my class, which I 
have been enabled to continue for four months 
without a Sabbath's intermission. Now it 
darkens too soon after church to admit of its 
being kept up any longer. A great many were 
present. I felt affected in speaking to them, 
and thought they appeared so too. Lord, bless 
this attempt to save souls and glorify thy 
name ! It is a pleasure to me to think it has 
been made, and God has wonderfully assisted 



Should any one be moved by this example 
to make an effort in his own locality, he may 
find instruction in her Ladyship's procedure, as 
well as an incentive in her Ladyship's success. 



208 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

Allowing something for the rank, and some- 
thing more for the talent of the teacher, her 
usefulness was mainly owing to her affection, 
her prayerfulness, her diligence, and her hope- 
fulness. She loved her humble neighbors, and 
instead of coming forth to dispense a weekly 
lecture or reproof, she re-appeared amongst 
them from week to week, with the law of 
kindness on her lips and cordiality in every 
feature, and in each earnest statement and 
solemn entreaty, they recognized their friend 
and well-wisher. But before she came to them 
she had been to God, and upon her labor of 
love she had implored her Heavenly Father's 
blessing. And, then, to show that her prayers 
were sincere and sanguine, she grudged no 
labor, and she betrayed no gloom. Her assidu- 
ous preparation, and her cheerful, encouraging 
address, were the natural sequel to fervent and 
believing petitions. "In testimony of desire 
and assurance to be heard, she had said, 
Amen ;"* but she not only said it in the closet, 
she lived it, throughout the day. Her diligent 
study of the subject was a prolonged Amen in 
the ear of God, and showed how desirous was 

* "Shorter Catechism," Q. 107. 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 209 

her pra} 7 er ; her radiant and expectant look 
was to her little congregation a visible Amen, 
and told them how assured she was that God 
had heard her, and how hopeful she was that 
God had mercy in reserve for them. And we 
know no other path to eminent usefulness, 
except like perseverance in affectionate indus- 
try and hopeful prayer. Perhaps, dear reader, 
you are disappointed by some previous failure. 
Once on a time you gathered a few poor peo- 
ple, or an up-grown class into a cottage or the 
servants' hall; but it was with difficulty you 
filled up the hour, and next evening, instead 
of a doubled attendance, only nine of the dozen 
returned ; and instead of multiplying to fifty or 
sixty, as in the present case, in six weeks the 
last straggler had stolen away. Nor can you 
blame yourself; for your motive was good, and 
you prayed for a blessing. True ; but allow 
us respectfully to ask, What was your style of 
address ? Was it kind and endearing? or was 
it not rather magisterial, preceptive, reprimand- 
ing? The eloquence which at once wins and 
commands unlettered hearers, is like His whom 
" the common people heard so gladly," — it is 
the sympathetic effusion of a superior nature : 
18* 



210 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

the utterance of a mind so elevated that it 
need take no thought for its own dignity, but 
withal so cordial and compassionate, that it 
creates or catches emotion in every counte- 
nance it looks upon. 

The Cottage Readings of Lady Colquhoun 
possessed this double charm : her hearers could 
never forget the Christian lady, and she never 
forgot her fellow-sinners and fellow-candidates 
for an immortal crown ; so that a sweet benig- 
nity pervaded her exhortations and remon- 
strances, and her gentleness was full of " au- 
thority." And did you make your hearers feel 
not only that you wished them well, but that 
you were full of hope regarding them ? Lady 
Colquhoun knew that the Gospel is " the power 
of God unto salvation," and she announced it 
with a joyful confidence ; ana although the list- 
lessness of her servants or scholars might send 
an occasional pang through her spirit, it never 
tinged her words with resentment ; but, in the 
exercise of that love which '-hopeth all things," 
she persisted, till love and hope together created 
their own reward. And before your experiment 
was abandoned, did you take sufficient pains 
to warrant its success ? It is not enough to 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 211 

gather an expectant group, and assume that 
you shall be able to address them. No multi- 
tude of guests will conjure a banquet from an 
empty board ; nor will the largest congregation 
elicit an interesting discourse from an unfur- 
nished mind. But many imagine that a pocket 
Bible is a magician's mirror, and needs only to 
be opened in order to summon up forgotten 
facts, appropriate similitudes, and powerful ar- 
guments ; and they are mortified if they do not 
find in every text a talisman. None could de- 
pend on Divine assistance more devoutly, nor 
court the influences of the Comforter with more 
ardent aspirations, than did the subject of this 
memorial : but she sought them in her study 
as well as in her school-room ; and then, when 
her mind was matured as to the meaning of 
the passage, and replenished with materials for 
expounding and enforcing it, she was able to 
look up for the promised help with calm and 
undistracted confidence. So deeply interested 
was she in this employment, and so persuaded 
that God would bless it, that her leisure was 
delightfully occupied in searching the Scrip- 
tures, and in preparatory meditations ; and till 
her health gave way she was never daunted by 



212 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

the frequent sensation of fatigue. May we not 
hope that her modest labors will afford some 
encouragement or guidance to that growing 
number among the refined and the leisurely 
who " have compassion on the multitude V' 

She now paid frequent visits to her son-in- 
law and daughter in Suffolk. She delighted in 
the primitive nooks, the bosky dells, the winding 
lanes, and little corn-clad hills which make up 
one of the most picturesque and sequestered of 
Old England's counties ; and many a musing 
walk she took, when the tide was full, along 
the grass-girdled creek which stretches away 
from the grounds of Stutton to the ancient 
seaport of Harwich. But beyond the beautiful 
landscape, she found materials of much interest 
in the homely villagers. At first, when she 
stepped into their cottages, as she had been ac- 
customed to do at Luss, and in her district of 
St. Luke's, in Edinburgh, they could scarcely 
comprehend her errand. But when from her 
conversation and the tracts which she gave 
them, they found that her motive was pure 
benevolence, their gratitude was as great as 
their surprise. She found amongst them not a 
few members of the Wesleyan Society, and 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 213 

they begged that she would return to their 
houses in the evenings, and explain the Scrip- 
tures when the work of the day was ended. 
With such requests she gladly complied; but 
so many of the neighbors came together, that 
she was obliged to place restrictions on their 
zeal, and limit the attendance to a certain 
number. The impressive way in which she 
read the Word of God, and her enforcement of 
its truths so clear and earnest, are still vividly 
remembered among them ; and there is reason 
to believe that some got real benefit. To these 
engagements there are a few incidental al- 
lusions in her Diary. Thus : — 

" Stutton House, June 21, 1840. — I feel that 
I have been sent here with a message to many. 
The people gladly receive my books and tracts, 
and I have seen some Christians among the 
Methodists. 

"July 12. — On Thursday I met with a 
number of the villagers in a cottage. I read 
the second chapter of Ephesians, with expla- 
nation, and prayed with them. And now we 
are to separate, perhaps never to meet in this 



214 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUX. 

world : Oh ! to meet on the right hand of the 
Judge ! 

" Aug: '27. — Yesterday was greatly interested 
in speaking to one of the villagers, who said 
that she had backslidden from God. May I 
have been sent to her with a blessing !" 

Among the Church of England clergymen 
with whom she became acquainted in Suffolk, 
she was much pleased with the active benevo- 
lence of the Rev. J. B. Wilkinson, of Holbrook, 
and the missionary zeal of the late Mr. Xot- 
tidge. of Ipswich : and. with all her preference 
for the simple worship of the Scottish Church, 
nothing more delighted her than to find affec- 
tionate preaching and devotional fervor else- 
where. 

" Oct. 1. — We went to church at Ipswich 
to-day. to hear Mr. R — — . a young minister, 
who is doing much good there. I was much 
pleased and cheered to hear the truth plainly, 
ably, and judiciously preached : and he read 
the service beautifully. My heart unites with 
all in every denomination in whom I see the 
Spirit's impress. This is truly a magnet to 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 215 

me. Spent some hours in my room agreeably 
afterwards, and read, as usual, to the ser- 
vants." 

From the same place she thus wrote to a 
very dear invalid friend : — 

" 1839. — I have gone into a few of the cot- 
tages with my little messengers of peace — the 
tracts, and they give me a hearty welcome ; 
but I scarcely know what to say to them, they 
seem to have so few ideas in common. 
It appears to me that they comprehend little, 
while they assent to everything. However, 
they take the tracts with thanks, and some- 
times the cheering thought occurs that I 
have not come so far for nothing. Who knows 

what God may bless ? But, my dear 

young friend, as well in our winters as our 
summers the foundation standeth sure ; ' Christ 
is All.' With Him is no variableness, neither 
shadow of turning. Precious truth ! Let us 
rest upon it, and cease from the vain endeavor 
to find anything in us that can give the 
shadow of hope. Abiding hope must be fixed 
on an object that changeth not : we change 



216 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

daily, hourly : He remains glorious in holiness 
eternally. And this Perfection is in the Court 
of Heaven our representative. Can we want 
more ? Shall we say, I will add a few of my 
virtues and graces to the account? When we 
are guilty of this folly, we weary ourselves 
seeking for them, for they cannot be found, 
and our harp hangs upon the willows. But 
we resume the songs of Zion when we look 
entirely from ourselves to c the Lord our Right- 
eousness.' How is it with you, dear A. ? Can 
you rejoice in the Lord always? If not, ex- 
perience will teach you that living on frames 
and. feelings will not do; that comfort ebbs 
and flows with these ; and that you equally 
delude yourself when you take comfort from 
the feeling of nearness to God, or when you 
lose it because you lack that joy in devotional 
exercises, which is nevertheless extremely de- 
sirable and much to be prized. This, how- 
ever, is distinct from joy in Christ crucified, 
and in Christ our Righteousness ; and it is 
very possible to feel little heart for prayer and 
to mourn an absent God, and yet to stand firm 
on the sure Foundation, rejoicing in Christ, and 
never doubting that we are complete in Him.*' 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 217 

H Stutton House. June 10, 1840. — My dear- 
est A., I received your letter with mixed feel- 
ings of pleasure and pain. I was glad to hear 
from yourself, and thankful to find that the 
Lord is still at your right hand ; but I was 
disappointed at the account you give of your 
health. Dearest A., I do fear your wish will 
be granted, and that God intends to take you 
shortly to Himself. But when God wills it so, 
and you are willing, shall I say Nay ? I trust 
not. ' His infinite wisdom can never mistake. 5 
As thou wilt, I desire to say, both regarding 
myself and all who are dear to me. Difficult 
the duty is, but God can impart the ability to 
perform it. I rejoice in the grace given to 
you, dear young friend : and I must repeat, 
Oh ! to be partaker of it ! I know God will 
never leave, never forsake you. Through 
life, through death, through eternity, that 
same God will be your All who now cheers 
you in the trying hours of sickness. 

" Much, very much mercy follows me. I 
only lack greater nearness to God, a sense of 
his presence and love, and greater joy in Him 
as my chief Good and only Portion. If He is 
pleased to deny me these inestimable privi- 
19 



218 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

leges. I have no right to expect them : and 
even then I cleave to the covenant, and to Him 
who * of God is made tome Righteousness/ 
You see I have not forgotten Mr. Smeaton's 
text. It often comes to my remembrance with 
power still. No other righteousness have I ; 
no better can I want, nor do I desire." 

" June 30. — I am still at Stutton. but expect 
soon to move to London. — not exactly the 
place I should have chosen : but all is well. 
God. my God. can be with me there, or any- 
where, as He has been here. He has been 
present lately without any outward means 
save books, and I have enjoyed many a stroll 
by the river-side with my Bible, more than I 
have often enjoyed in the house of God with 
the greatest spiritual advantages. I feel. too. 
that I am sent to others, and think I see some 
fruit; and when, where, how Thou wilt, is 
what I desire to say regarding: anv change of 
residence/' 

The years 1S39 and 1840 are years much 
to be remembered in Scotland's spiritual his- 
tory. God was not then -a stranger in the 
land ;" and at Kilsyth, in Dundee and Perth, 



i 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUX. 219 

in Roxburghshire, and in Breadalbane. such 
immediate and unwonted effects accompanied 
the preaching of the Gospel, that nothing 
seemed impossible to faith and prayer. Nor 
were they only ministers who preached with 
assurance of success : elders of the church and 
private Christians were roused to fresh exer- 
tions on behalf of their neighbors. In con- 
junction with some others. Lady Colquhoun 
spent a considerable portion of her time in 
visiting a neglected district of the New Town 
of Edinburgh : and from the transparent sanc- 
tity of her character, and the commanding 
sweetness of her manner, few visitors were 
more welcome or more impressive. The re- 
sumption of these labors is thus recorded in 
her Diary : — 

"4. Moray-place. Xov. 24. — I have on hand 
much new duty, having undertaken to visit, 
as before, the poor in Thistle-street ; and also 
to visit weekly, in turn with some others, the 
school there. And I have joined a prayer- 
meeting of ladies, who meet every Thursday. 
Lord Dfrant thy blessing and assistance ! With- 
out Thee I can do nothing. Strengthen for 



220 LIFE OF LADY COLGtUHOUN. 

thine own work a poor helpless creature. Last 
week I was much encouraged by hearing that 
one I had visited, and whom I found in a very 
careless state, had died hopefully." 

In letters to her like-minded correspondent, 
she occasionally notices the more interesting 
cases ; and although it would be premature to 
publish what she says regarding hopeful indi- 
viduals till they have given that most decisive 
evidence, " perseverance to the end," the reader 
may obtain a glimpse of the home missionary 
in the following extracts : — 

" I have seen . It seems the old High- 
land woman next door is her sister, and by her 
account (for she has so little English that I 
cannot judge of her), the sister is in the same 
state of anxiety in which she herself was for- 
merly, praying night and day for her soul's 

salvation. told her, 'Perhaps ye'll get 

peace in a moment.' The old woman has a 
son and a daughter-in-law who have come 
from Glasgow to stay with her. They were 
notorious drunkards, but are keeping sober. 
's great anxiety was that I should speak 



LIFE OF LADY COLGIUHOUN. 221 

to them all. * Oh, will you speak to them ? 
they think I'm by myseVl* So, to secure the 
young man's being in, I went at their dinner- 
hour, but said to , 'I fear I shall interrupt 

their dinner.' ' Oh !' said she, ' if they were 
to want their dinner for a twelvemonth, what 
does that matter?' I thought they all seemed 
affected, especially in prayer, when I earnestly 
plead for sinners, and the young pair promised 
to go and hear Mr. M. I gave the old woman 
some Gaelic tracts, and she began to read them 

instantly. told me of a very interesting 

case opposite: a poor woman with five chil- 
dren, whose husband is a perfect reprobate. 
She is interested for her soul, but he will not 
let her attend on ordinances ; and the last 
communion he scolded her so, because she was 
dressed to go, that she was quite unfitted for 
the Lord's Table, and stayed at home." 

" Friday. — I made out a visit to the poor 
persecuted woman I wrote you of, and she was 
telling me some of her grievances, when in 
came her husband, a forbidding-looking hack- 
ney-coachman. He started back, and went to 
another room. I sent her for him, saying, if he 
* Beside mysel£ 

19* * 



222 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

liked to hear it, I was going to read the Bible. 
He came in. and I chatted a little first, and he 
related a long story how ill he had been used 
by a man whom he had once befriended. I 
took the opportunity and said, ' You may often 
meet with ingratitude from man, because we 
are sinful creatures ; but go to God and trust 
Him, and He will never forsake you ;' and then 
I read my little portion as usual with prayer ; 
and certainly my hardened acquaintance looked 
softened, for I saw him wipe his eyes." 

Writing to the same friend, August 27, 1838, 
she says : — 

" The few words, \ God is love,' have been 
delightfully on my mind lately. I cannot give 
you the impression that has been, given me ; 
for I feel that it is by the Holy Ghost (the reality 
of whose influences I am more and more con- 
vinced of), and that in speaking to others or 
they to us, of what this blessed Agent teaches, 
we have no power to bring to the mind of another 
what we ourselves experience. I should like 
much to know Mr. M-Cheyne. Your account 
of his pretty idea regarding the wilderness is so 
like him, I think I could have told who said it." 



LIFE OF LADY COLaUHOUN. 223 

The diary of Aug. 19 alludes to the same 
text : — 

" For some days ; God is love 5 has been de- 
lightfully impressed upon my mind, and I have 
been enabled very much to give up the crea- 
ture. I saw the greatness of God's love to ??ie, 
and from his being love — the essence of it — I 
conceived how he could love multitudes, even 
as we do one or two. We have not love enough 
to give to many, but God's love is to all his 
children equally strong to that which we have 
to a very few, and probably much greater* 
How sweet!" 

Under the same date she apprizes her friend 
of a new volume which she was preparing, 
"The World's Religion as contrasted with 
genuine Christianity." It appeared in the 
following winter, and in 1835 had been pre- 
ceded by "The Kingdom of God.' 5 "The 
World's Religion"* was Lady Colquhoun's last 
publication, and though in its structure and 
contents wholly distinct, its title will remind 
the reader of that book which she had reason 
to prize beyond all human authorship, the 

* The " World's Religion," forms one of the volumes of 
Carter's Christian Cabinet Library. 



224 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

"Practical Christianity." This fondness for a 
first love is an interesting feature of advancing 
years ; and though the shadows are reversed, 
it is pleasant to know that " the light of even- 
ing tide" is often richer and warmer, — yes. and 
more radiant with hope, than the morning 
spread upon the mountains. In broken health 
and in life's decline she penned this wisest and 
happiest of all her works, to teach her youthful 
friends where to look for happiness. She there 
mentions an incident which her father once 
told her. It was the time when Lord Melville 
was so high in office as to be the envy, or the 
idol, of his Scottish countrymen. He had asked 
Sir John Sinclair to spend New Year's Day 
with him at Wimbledon, and having slept in 
the house the previous night, Sir John repaired 
in the morning to the chamber of his host, to 
wish him a happy new year. "It had need 
be happier than the last," was the statesman's 
answer, " for I cannot recollect a single happy 
day in it." And though the pious authoress 
does not obtrude her own experience, it is right 
that it should now be known. Under the date 
February 3, 1839, we find her recording in her 
diary : — 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 225 

" This day three years ago, my dear husband 
departed from me. These years have been 
years of mercy. No misfortune has befallen 
me ; I have wanted for nothing, and grace, I 
trust, has grown." And all throughout there 
predominates a cheerful and confiding love, as 
of one in whose future there could be no real 
evil, and who found a Friend possessed of all- 
sufficiency. 

The following year commences : — 
" Edinburgh, Jan. 5, 1840. — A precious 
Sabbath, with something of the Spirit's in- 
fluence in public and private. Mr. Moody 
preached twice from i Redeeming the time, 
because the days are evil.' He began with a 
striking observation, that time has risen in 
price, as every commodity does when it grows 
scarcer. He had heard of a heathen monarch 
to whom a sorceress brought nine volumes of a 
book, demanding a high price for them. Think- 
ing it too much he refused, and she burned three, 
demanding for the six the price of the nine. 
He still declined to give it, and she burned 
three more, asking the full sum for the re- 
maining three. He began to think there must 
be something extraordinary in the books, and 



226 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 



fearing to lose them all. he gave for the three 
the price he had refused for nine. So time, as 
it dwindles, grows more valuable.*' 

And now we gladly avail ourselves of a few 
extracts from letters to her endeared corres- 
pondent, Miss S. : — 

" 13 Cumberland-street^ Hyde Park, 
" London. Aug.. 1S40. 
" Many thanks for your prayers. Perhaps 
you prayed for me last Sabbath. I was de- 
tained at home by my cold, and spent most of 
the day in my own room : yet God was very 
present, and my heart was with Him. It was 
impressed upon me. Some one prays for me, — 
perhaps my dear A. One verse I met with in 
the course of reading was sweetly consolatory ; 
I think it is Watts's : — 

ut Jesus I I throw my arms around, 
And hang upon thy breast ; 
For I have s ought no other home, 
And found no other rest.' 

This rest, dearest A., abides. You are about 
to move where you would not go (to Madeira), 
but your home— your rest, goes with you. 



LIFE OF LADY C0LQ,UH0UN. 227 

Strive to cast away all anxiety, just as if you 
saw the Saviour's arms around you, I need 
not remind you, Be careful for nothing, but 
make known your requests. He would have 
you without carefulness. Trust him — try Him ; 
I know it will go well with you. I had a letter 
lately from my dear friend in Canada, Mrs. 
Scott. She relates what is to me very inter- 
esting: that she had read an account of Kilsyth 
which I gave her to a man from Glasgow who 
was working there, but who, with his wife, had 
become much addicted to drinking. He was 
so much struck as to change his conduct ever 
since, and she has hopes of the conversion of 
both. I have just read in the newspapers that 
there has been a tremendous hurricane at 
Liverpool, and not over on Tuesday, when I 
meant to have been there. Thus, by this cold 
I have been spared the inconvenience of re- 
maining there, or of sailing for Scotland, when 
neither safe nor pleasant. ' Trust in the Lord 
forever.' " 

TO THE SAME. 

" Rossdhu, Oct. 6, 1840. 
"Whether life or death be in your cup, I 



228 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

cannot tell. My impression certainly is. that 
he has thus early ripened you for glory with 
the view of taking you to himself. And is it 
not a blessed thing that I can tell you this 
without the fear of agitating or distressing 
you ? — that while to you • to live is Christ, to 
die is gain?' But. it may be years of useful- 
ness await you : and I, who am old in years, 
and who. having long known the preciousness 
of salvation by grace, ought to be also ready, 
may be taken first, and may welcome you as 
you { enter in through the gates into the city. 7 
I often think of this passage. Two gate- 
seem evident : Christ the door, and the gate ol 
death. There is no admission but through 
these gates, and, when these are passed, no 
impediment. Oh, the joy of the entrance 
when the gates are passed, and the poor 
doubtful believer finds himself safe in the 
city P 

TO THE SAME. 

"Rossdhu, Nov. 11, 1840. 

"You ask me for texts. The eleventh chap- 
ter of John, with all the particulars, as ex- 
plained in Henry's Commentary, has been 



LIFE OP LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 229 

much blessed to me lately, — particularly what 
is said of our Lord's love, 'He whom thou 
lovest is sick.' No doubt upon the subject ; 
Christ's love must have been evident to all. 
4 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and 
Lazarus. 5 It is simply told ; yet carries the 
conviction that the apostle saw this love. I 
have been apt to think too much of Jesus 5 
love as pity and benevolence ; its reality never 
struck me so much as lately in reading this 
passage. And if we had an apostle to tell our 
story, he might say with equal truth, i Now 
Jesus loved A. and her friend, and that other, 
and each of his redeemed ones on earth.' I 
know this truth has been brought home to my 
mind by the Holy Ghost ; and, dear young 
friend, I cannot convey my meaning to you un- 
less He is pleased to reveal it. Perhaps you 
knew it long ago." 

TO THE SAME. 

" Rossdhu, Sept. 8, 1841. 
" The proposed union for prayer is interest- 
ing, and I shall try and not forget Madeira. I 
feel, also, some anxiety for our dear Scotch 
Church. We used to agree not to talk of it ; 
20 



230 LIFE OF LADY COLQXHOUN. 

but it now appears as if its downfall were 
approaching. The Moderate party push on 
the decision as to which side shall constitute 
the Establishment : and if they are to consti- 
tute our Church, woe to many a destitute 
district which can have access to no other 
preachers. Yet God reigns, and is • Head of 
the body— the Church.' There will still be 
Christ's Church, and possibly there may be a 
great reviving among us. Amen. 

u .l heard Lately from my dear friend in 
Canada. Mrs. Scott, and she asks with much 
interest about you. She is a i sister.' and you 
will meet in glory. How many will be there 
whom we shall love as much as those who are 
dearest to us now ! Love is the fulfilling of 
the law, and there will be no scarcity of love in 
heaven. — : beloved, and loving all t' embrace.' 
Often do I think, could I perfectly love God I 
should be quite happy : but here again. I see 
no hope till taken to a better world. I can no 
more excite this love than I can fly. I can 
only say. Lord, let me love Thee : permit me 
to love Thee ; enable me to love Thee. And 
if there be the faintest commencement of this 
love, it is himself hath done it. ■' You hath he 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 231 

quickened who were dead :' he will perfect 
what concerns us. and will not forsake the 
work of his own hands. This is my hope — - 
my only hope, but it is a noble hope ; i GooVs 
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto 
good works, which God hath before ordained^ 
that we should walk in them.' n 

TO THE SAME. 

••20, Charlotte-square. March 9, 1S42. 
" Mr. Burns' preaching has much power 
accompanying it : he is truly in earnest, and 
I hear his ministrations are blessed. Mr. 
M'Cheyne administered the Sacrament beauti- 
fully, and. oh, how he prayed for our dear 
pastor !* It must have reached many hearts. 
He also read to us one evening Mr. bloody 
Stuart's second Pastoral Letter, and inter- 
spersed it with remarks of his own, very sweet 
and apposite. It seemed like the two friends 
speaking to us together. I never saw Mr. 
APCheyne so solemn and spiritual. One great 
loss in Mr- Burns is, that he takes no superin- 
tendence of the parish : he is always preaching 
elsewhere. But the elders are exerting them- 

* Then in impaired health, and also residing at Madeira. 



232 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

selves, and seem to feel their responsibility.— 
And now, how joyful to know that all these 
things are under God's control, and not beneath 
his notice ! A verse in Psalm civ. has often 
been food for me. Here it is, dear A., you 
shall partake of my bread :— 

" ' Of Him my meditation shall 
Sweet thoughts to me afford ; 
And as for me, I will rejoice 
In God my only Lord.' " 

It was in this year that a new system of 
Sabbath-desecration was introduced in Scot- 
land, and, with deep sorrow Lady Colquhoun 
in her diary records : — 

•' March 13. — The day when the Sabbath 
trains begin to run on the Edinburgh and 
Glasgow Railway." 

On this point so strongly did she feel, that 
the next time she had occasion to travel be- 
twixt the two cities, she hired post-horses, 
rather than employ a conveyance which syste- 
matically violated the Divine command. She 
was then in feeble health, and the journey con- 
sumed two days instead of as many hours ; 
but in carrying out a strong conviction of duty, 
few thought so lightly of personal convenience 
or comfort as Lady Colquhoun. 



CHAPTER VI. 



FAVOR IS DECEITFUL, AND BEAUTY IS YATX \ BUT A TTOMAN 
THAT FEARETH THE LORD, SHE SHALL BE PRAISED. — PROVERBS 
TXYT, 30. 



Christ leads me through no darker rooms 

Than He went through before : 
He that into God's kingdom comes 

Must enter by this door. 

Come, Lord, when grace hath made me meet 

Thy blessed face to see ; 
For if thy work on earth be sweet, 

What will thy glory be ? 

My knowledge of that life is small, 

The eye of faith is dim ; 
But 'tis enough that Christ knows all ; 

And I shall be with Him. 

RICHARD BAXTER. 



The year 1843 saw the Church of Scotland 
split in sunder. From no dislike to State-con- 
nection, but in avoidance of secular control, 
two-fifths of the clergy and half the population 
withdrew from the old Establishment. Hot 
controversy and strong excitement preceded 
this event, as every one w r ould expect, who 
20* 



234 LIFE OF LADY C0LQ,UH0 UN. 

knows the national temperament, and who, 
when her religion is concerned, remembers 
how polemical the history of Scotland has ever 
been. But just as a glowing summer will oc- 
casionally elicit some lovely plant, of which 
the soil has long contained the dormant gem, 
or as a volcanic outburst will condense into 
crystalline beauty the elements which have 
been hitherto crudely diffused through the 
strata, — so, those who are careful to collect the 
finest specimens of human excellence must 
look for them in periods when the public mind 
has been stimulated, or when the apathy of 
ages has been startled by some powerful revo- 
lution. Apart altogether from the rightness 
of their cause, it will be conceded that more 
munificence, self-sacrifice, and missionary en- 
thusiasm were developed by the day of the Dis- 
ruption than by a century of tame church- 
going and tranquil sermonizing ; nor, until 
they learned it in the furnace of affliction, did 
ministers and people know how dear they were 
to one another, nor how intense was that rela- 
tion which bound them to their common Lord 
and Lawgiver. 

It so happened that in their capacity as 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 235 

members of the Indian Female Education So- 
ciety, Lady Colquhoun and her friends were 
constrained to a miniature rehearsal of the 
Disruption, some time before the greater event 
transpired ; and this first step, like the final one, 
she took with her accustomed conscientious- 
ness, irrespective of fashion, and — which alone 
was painful — in some instances, irrespective of 
personal friendship. But her calm and inde- 
pendent mind had fully considered the ques- 
tion ; and, dear as the Scotch Establishment 
had ever been to her, it was only dear so long 
as in sacred things it owned itself amenable to 
none except its heavenly Head. In following 
the cause of spiritual freedom, she believed 
that she was only following the Guiding Pil- 
lar ; and though well aware that the ministers 
and elders whom she chiefly esteemed would 
follow it also, it was a joyful surprise to find 
such a multitude of the people prepared for the 
movement. By giving impulse and outlet to 
the piety of her remaining years, the Disrup- 
tion is entitled to form a date in her biography, 
as well as in many a private history.* 

* The history of the whole event has just been published 
by Dr. Robert Buchanan, in his interesting narrative, " The 



236 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

The first notice of this memorable day oc- 
curs in her journal : — ■ 

u Rossdhu. May 28, 18-13. — I have been here 
upwards of a week ; but neither this Sabbath 
nor the last have I enjoyed public ordinances. 
As was expected, the Disruption of our Church 
took place [May 18] when between four and 
five hundred of our devoted pastors gave up 
all for Christ, and rather than belong to an 
Erastian Church, left their homes and benefi- 
ces. May a blessing, a great blessing, rest on 
themselves and their labors in ' The Free 
Presbyterian Church of Scotland,' to which 
with them I now belong ! Nothing is yet or- 
ganized as to a stated ministry, and I did not 
think it right to attend in the old Establish- 
ment. Both last Sunday and to-day I have 
been enabled to read to my servants, and 
though feeling the deprivation, have spent the 
day tolerably. 

" June 11. — Mr. Somerville came to Luss, 

Ten Tears' Conflict." The case has also been stated with 
singular perspicuity and force by members of other Churches ; 
e. g., by the Hon, and Rev. B. W. Xoel ; by Mr. Sydow, the 
King of Prussia's Chaplain ; and by Dr. Merle D'Aubigne, in 
his " Germany, England, and Scotland." 






LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 237 

and delightfully and very freely preached 
Christ, on Monday, at Arnburn, and on Tues- 
day in the village, in the open air, close to the 
church. Both times there was a good attend- 
ance, and many of the people seemed affected 
and struck. I myself felt much strengthened 
and invigorated/"' 

For many years Lady Colquhoun had been 
praying for the parish of Luss, and her Jour- 
nals show how confident she was that God 
would arise and have mercy upon that neigh- 
borhood. In her own modest but useful labors, 
her prayer was partly answered ; and in the 
plantation of the Free Church, she was spared 
to see it answered yet more fully. A congre- 
gation was organized ; the Rev. Neil Stewart 
was ordained its minister : and on sites granted 
by her son, there now ' stand most beautiful 5 
the manse of the minister and the church of 
the people. To some of these occurrences she 
thus alludes : — 

" Stutton. Sept. 10. 1S43. — Have lately found 
prayer answered in several particulars, which 
might be termed trifling, yet which cost me 



238 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

anxiety. Read this morning what I wrote here 
on prayer for Luss and itfi neighborhood, Oct. 
11, 1840 ; and may I not hope that these 
prayers are now answering ? 

" Rossdhic, Nov. 19. — Had the great joy to 
hear Christ fully and freely preached by our 
new young minister, at the Arnburn, where 
the Free Church congregation meet. How 
many times have I prayed for a living, life- 
giving ministry at Luss ! What a difference it 
makes to me in living here ! 

" June 30, 1844. — Again at the Arnburn, and 
heard Mr. Stewart with great pleasure. There 
seemed an impression among the people. Oh, 
that God may appear in his glory among us ! 
for this I long and pray. It is expected that 
the new church at Bandry will be opened next 
Lord's-day. These are great privileges. Lord, 
give the blessing ! What can men do, even 
thine own dear children ? They are altogether 
powerless. 

" July 14. — Last Lord ? s-day our Free church 
was opened. I was nearly the whole day 
there. The services were impressive, and a 
great many from neighboring parishes attended. 
Lord, bless this place,- now set apart for thy 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 239 

worship ! May many sons and daughters be 
born unto Thee there !' 3 

One day. when the Free church was a-build- 
ingj she went in to see how the work was pro- 
ceeding, and observing that one of the pews 
had a private door, and was also much larger 
and more elevated than the rest, she asked for 
whom it was intended. The carpenter said, 
"For your Ladyship and family.'* She imme- 
diately directed that the private door should be 
built up. and the pew made like its neighbors ; 
" for," as she remarked, " there ought to be no 
distinctions in the house of God/' 

However, it was not only in procuring minis- 
ters for the parishes along the shores of Loch- 
Lomond that the Disruption taxed the energy 
of Lady Colquhoun. For many years she had 
been the patroness and an influential director 
of various benevolent Societies in Edinburgh. 
One was an Association, already mentioned, 
for promoting Female Education in India, in 
connection with the Scottish Missions there. 
Commenced by the pious and talented Mrs. 
Wilson, of Bombay, the system soon ramified 
into all the eastern Presidencies ; and, as open- 



240 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

ing the simplest and surest access to the homes 
of the Hindoos, it promises to be a most power- 
ful instrument in India's moral regeneration. 
Lady Colquhoun set on it great value, and be- 
sides keeping in her own hand the minutes of 
the Society, with eminent wisdom and kind- 
ness, she conducted the correspondence with its 
several agents. 

Then there was the Ladies' Society in Aid 
of the Home Mission of the Presbyterian 
Church in Ireland. In his providence God 
had opened to that Church a peculiar oppor- 
tunity of preaching the Gospel to the Irish- 
speaking inhabitants of the west and south, and 
at a time when few felt any interest in the sub- 
ject, Lady Colquhoun recognized in the tidings 
which she heard an opening towards boundless 
usefulness. She succeeded in communicating 
to half-a-dozen friends something of her own 
ardor, and founded an Institution which suc- 
cessive years have only rendered more imperi- 
ously urgent. To her fellow-laborers in this 
cause she set a noble example, by educating 
one of the converts, at her own expense, for 
the Christian ministry ; and by personal com- 
munication with members of the Ulster Assem- 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 241 

biy, she kept alive the zeal of herself and her 
colleagues. But to her patriotic and practical 
spirit, still dearer, perhaps, was the Gaelic 
School Society. Like her venerable father, 
whose last thoughts were for the moral and 
religious welfare of the Highlands, she had a 
warm attachment to that people ; and, know- 
ing how many regions had been spiritually 
enlightened, and how many thousands had 
been scripturally instructed by this Society's 
godly teachers, she gave it her most cordial 
and liberal support But each of these Soci- 
eties was more or less shaken in that explosion 
which rent in twain the Established Church ; 
and, though many statistics were long debated, 
two points were soon conceded : it was plain 
that the Free Church had all the missionaries, 
and equally plain that the Established Church 
had most of the moneyed men. And then it 
was that on the adherents of the new and 
scripless Institution was poured out that spirit 
of joyful contribution which, besides covering 
Scotland with a new system of schools and 
sanctuaries, augmented its mission-staff, and 
invented schemes of pious enterprise as costly 
as they were original. Amongst the foremost 
21 



242 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN» 

in the ranks of liberal givers and instant doers 3 
was Lady Colquhoun. Fully persuaded in 
her own mind, and alive to the peerless ex- 
igency, she commenced that series of sump- 
tuous offerings so helpful to the cause, and so 
inspiring to its friends. Apart from local ob- 
jects which mainly devolved upon her, if a 
Highland minister wrote for help to his people 
who had carted the stones and the timber, but 
who could not build the church ; if a Lowland 
minister represented the case of some Clevel- 
and pious youth who would fain go to college, 
but who could not pay the fees ; if — as, alas ! 
such tales were too frequent and too true — she 
heard of sufferings for conscience' sake, her 
w T onderful purse was always open, and she so 
contrived to give that her gifts, never hinted 
the self-denial of the sender. To herself 
money had now become a talent, and its right 
bestowment a means of grace ; and, radiant 
with the bountiful spirit of this new dispensa- 
tion, there was contagion in her cheerful offer- 
ings, as well as comfort in her calm and saga- 
cious councils. Inevitably she became the cen- 
tre of those Societies of which she had been 
formerly the supporter ; and, on the other 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 243 

hand, she rejoiced to find that her favorite 
schemes for India and Ireland had not suffered 
from the unwonted claims of Scotland. 

Perhaps a manly gratitude is as rare as a 
princely munificence ; but to the affectionate 
memory of one too high-minded to forget a 
favor, and too devout to regard Lady Colquhoun 
as his only benefactor, her biographer is in- 
debted for an instance of her seasonable and 
discriminating kindness. It was in the sum- 
mer of the Disruption, and when looking out 
for a Free Church minister for Luss, that the 
name of a young licentiate was mentioned to 
her. Though apprized that through excessive 
indulgence in study, — for he had been reading 
eighteen hours a day, — his health was broken, 
she sent for him. With some reluctance he 
came ; but instead of the sturdy athlete which 
a country minister had need to be, there stood 
before a spectral invalid. Two eminent physi- 
cians had told him that in less than nine 
months he must be in his grave, and the faith- 
ful warning had made him eager to work while 
it was day. From some cause or other, how- 
ever, Lady Colquhoun was prepossessed with a 
sanguine hope that if rightly treated he would 



244 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

recover. She thought and prayed over his 
case, and sending for him again, propounded a 
scheme which she had devised for his benefit. 
She stipulated that he would put himself en- 
tirely in her hands.be guided by her advice, 
and use all means for convalescence at her 
cost. Of course, ail preaching was strictly pro- 
hibited : the shattered student was ordered off 
to drink a famous mineral water ; and after a 
year of rest and rustication he was ready to 
accept a cordial call to go and minister in a 
Highland congregation, amongst whom he has 
labored ever since, a vigorous and successful 
pastor. Having been favored with a perusal 
of the letters which Lady Colquhoun addressed 
to her young friend, if the following extracts 
strike the reader as the entire correspondence 
struck us. they will convey some idea of that 
delicacy and good sense, that piety and kind- 
ness which were so beautifully combined in her 
character. 

" Sutherland's Hotel July L 1843. 

■'•Dear Mr. : On thinking over what I 

said to you yesterday. I fear I was not suffi- 
ciently explicit. I wish you to promise that 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 245 

after the two Sabbaths for which you are 
engaged, you will preach no more for some 
months, and save yourself in every way as 
much as possible. Nothing short of this will 
be of any avail, and it would be folly to deny 
yourself the satisfaction of doing much in the 
long-run, by perhaps one sermon. Therefore 
be firm in this respect, and be silent for the pres- 
ent. Depend upon it, to put steadily in force 
this resolution, requires more grace and strength 
from above than to follow your own inclination 
and preach the word. 

" Do not be very long in writing to me, as I 
shall be anxious to hear how the xllmighty 
prospers our scheme, and trusting it may be hia 
pleasure to grant you a long life of usefulness 
and many souls for your hire, 

" I remain, your sincere friend," &c. 

" Stutton House. Ipswich. Sept. 6, 1843. 
" I received your letter this morning with 
real thankfulness ; for I much feared my last 
had not reached you. I inclose — , which I 
can assure you I give without any difficulty or 
deprivation to myself, and I am sure I may say 
with heartfelt pleasure. Could I be instrumen- 
21* 



^ 



246 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 



tal in perfecting your recovery, so that you 
may live to the glory of God and bring souls to 
the Saviour, how rich would be the blessing on 
this poor mammon of unrighteousness ! For 
this I pray, and not without the hope that my 
prayer is heard. You shall not sell your books 
if I can keep them for you. God has brought 
your case under my notice most providential!}-. 
I praise his name for it. It is only an answer 
to many prayers that he would point out what 
he would have me to do. 

••'lam beginning to look to loved Scotland 
now. and think I shall not remain many weeks 
longer in England. I am living with a daugh- 
ter and her family, in a pretty county, and 
where the air is delightfully clear and salubri- 
ous. But all will not make up for the want of 
those precious means of grace with which our 
favored land is blessed. May our afflicted 
Church have a double portion of the dew of 
Hermon descend upon her in her present af- 
flicted and yet exalted state ! She goes on 
prosperously, and • with Christ in the vessel. 
may smile at the storm." " 

••' Stui ton House. Sept. 25. 1543. 
" Your last letter, gloomy although it is in 



LIFE OP LADY COLQUHOUN. 247 

some respects, gave me the sincerest pleasure, 
as it tells me you were beginning to derive 
benefit from the waters. May the Almighty 
continue to you their healing virtue, sending 
you health and cure ! One thing I would with 
much earnestness entreat, that you will not 
think of leaving the place till medical men 
say there is no use in your remaining. I have 
a great fear of your but half-doing matters, 
and then all will be thrown away. One timely 
and persevering effort saves much. I know 
there will be somewhat more expense in your 
present residence ; but to what better purpose 
can money be expended than in promoting the 
glory of God in the salvation of men ? And 
do you not see that with your recovery this, by 
his blessing, may be intimately connected? 
My stock is not exhausted. God has given 
me means which many others do not possess ; 
and in your case he has plainly said to me, 
1 Do this.' The debt is not to you ; along with 
all I am and ail I have, it is claimed by Him 
w T ho loved me and gave himself for me. Take, 
therefore, without scruple, what our Lord ap- 
points as yours, and give him the praise. 

u And now, as to the state of your mind. I 



248 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

read what you say with much sympathy. Oh ! 
that God would enable me to send you a word 
from Himself! And first. I think it highly 
probable that the disordered state of the body 
has more or less connection with it : and of this 
you will judge as the body recovers strength 
and tone. But from what you have written, 
as well as from what you said when we met. I 
should think there is something like impatience 
at the total inactivity. — what you term use- 
lessness, to which you are reduced. The desire 
of usefulness is good in itself: but. dear Mr. 

3 remember it is not for us to allot the 

times and the seasons when God shall employ 
our services. There is often a waiting time as 
well as a working time. and. if I mistake not, 
you will work 'double tides' shortly. Your 
present duty is to bear his will in silence, 
saying, When, — where, — how thou wilt. But 
1 the face of God seems hid, and the Saviour 
less present and less precious.' Ah ! this is 
indeed a bitter cup, and God alone can remove 
it. 1 have often thought that ministers must 
taste such things : or how should they know 
how to pity and console ? This may be part 
of your education for the ministry ; but such 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 249 

desertion shall not always last (Isaiah liv. 7, 8, 
10), and perhaps it shall be succeeded by bright 
and cloudless sunshine. In the meantime I 
would say, place yourself in the everlasting 
arms, whether God smiles or hides his counte- 
nance. Let faith supply the lack of feeling. 
He will not, he cannot cast you from himself. 

" Continue, dear Mr. , to pray for Luss. 

It has been very dead and barren since I have 
known it, and is just beginning to show symp- 
toms of life. I hear that Mr. Stewart is gain- 
ing beyond the most sanguine expectations, 
and that there is a party much interested in 
his success. I am very glad my son has given 
them the most convenient site for a church." 

In the early summer of 1844 a new and 
affecting duty devolved on Lady Colquhoun. 
Her son, Sir James, had been scarcely a year 
united to a lady* whose youth and amiable 
dispositions promised a long duration of hap- 
piness, and the rejoicings over the birth of a 

* The younger Lady Colquhoun was a daughter of Sir 
Robert Abercrombie of Forglen, Bart. She died at Edinburgh 
on the 3d of May, 1844. 



250 LIFE OP LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

first-born had hardly been celebrated in his 
hereditary domains : — - 

It was an April day ; and blithely all 

The youth of nature leaped beneath the sun, 

When tidings came, 
A son was born ; and tidings came again, 
That she who gave it birth was sick to death. 

The infant, thus bequeathed to her maternal 
tenderness, became an object of unceasing 
solicitude to his fond grandmother ; and if 
anything could have linked her spirit to the 
earth once more, that child would have been 
the tie. God blessed her anxious tending, and 
her little grandson grew in strength and stat- 
ure. On the rare occasions when she was 
obliged to send him from under her immediate 
eye, a minute correspondence was maintained 
betwixt his attendants and herself; and in 
thinking and planning for the welfare of her 
precious charge, and in watching the develop- 
ments of thought and affection, she lived de- 
lightfully over again a by-gone era of her his- 
tory. 

The most appropriate contribution which a 
Christian lady can make to the cause of the 



LIFE OP LADY COLaUHOUN. 251 

Gospel is, when she " shows piety at home." 
It is related of a Scottish lawyer who rose to a 
high judicial station in England, that with 
infinite pains he had exchanged his vernacular 
pronunciation for a somewhat finical English 
accent ; but when he became old and infirm, 
they say that nature cropped out again, and 
that it was curious to observe the broad Shib- 
boleths of boyhood taking a late but ample 
vengeance on the euphuistic orator. And 
where piety is like Lord Loughborough's Eng- 
lish, — a thing picked op or put on, — it is liable 
to similar casualties. In life's least guarded 
or least brilliant moments, in languor, in sick- 
ness, in moments of vexation, carnality tri- 
umphs over profession ; and the spleen, or the 
passion, or the worldly-mindedness which was 
all unsuspected by the admiring committee or 
the parlor coterie, is revealed without scruple 
to the domestic circle. But the piety of Lady 
Colquhoun was such a pervasion that the 
minutest action and the most familiar moment 
could only reveal the Christian. " She be- 
haved herself wisely in a perfect way, she 
walked within her house with a perfect heart ;" 
and her uniform and attractive goodness com- 



252 LIFE OF LADY COLGtUHOUN. 

mended the Gospel to her servants, to her 
family, and to the stranger sojourning within 
her gates. 

For many years she had been in the habi v 
of instructing her female servants every Sab 
bath afternoon ; and, with her systematic per- 
severance, she often assembled them when 
feeble health made the exertion distressing to 
herself. Thus, in her journal we find her la- 
menting the levity which exhibited itself on 
one of these occasions ; " for, considering the 
pain it cost me to speak to them, I felt it rathe* 
hard." But it was the tendency of such exer- 
tions for their welfare to conciliate the affec 
tion of her household, especially as they were 
the exertions of a most kind and considerate 
mistress. One evening, in Edinburgh, she 
rang the bell for her maid, but w 7 as told that 
she had gone out and had not returned. It 
was late before she arrived, and when she 
made her appearance Lady Colquhoun asked 
where she had been. " Taking tea with 
my mother," was the reply. But perceiving 
her embarrassed manner, Lady C. said, "Now, 
I know you are not telling me the truth ;" and 
the young woman confessed that she had 




x 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 253 

gone to a theatrical exhibition, which was 
later of ending than she had expected. How- 
ever, it was true that the party had met at her 
mother's and taken tea beforehand ; and she 
had intended to ask leave, but bad not found 
opportunity. Lady C. expressed her sorrow at 
the occurrence, the more especially as she had 
never before discovered in this maid any devia- 
tion from the truth. She told her how much 
she disapproved of theatres, which had ruined 
so many ; and reminded her how one fault 
usually leads to another ; " and C," she added, 
" I have just been praying for you." Tears 
started into the young woman's eyes ; and she 
begged forgiveness of her mistress, solemnly 
promising never to be guilty of the like fault 
again, a promise which she faithfully fulfilled. 
But although she objected to such places of 
resort, and would not allow her servants to 
spend the Sabbath in walks and visits, she 
was liberal in allowing them other opportuni- 
ties of amusement, and was especially de- 
lighted when they selected such recreations as 
tended to improve their minds. The servant 
just mentioned had been attending some even- 
ing lectures on astronomy, and Lady C. took 
21 



234 LIFE OF LADY DOLQUHOUN. 

great pleasure in hearing all thai she could re- 
member and in helping her to understand them. 
And all the inmates of her dwelling were so 
well aware of her benevolent feelings toward 
them, that it is not wonderful that they re- 
ceived with increasing gratitude her endeavors 
to promote their truest welfare. "There was 
not one in the household who did not love and 
reverence her. and who would not have done 
anything to serve her." And if her instruc- 
tions have not been followed by lasting results 
in every case, none who were connected with 
her can ever forget how holy and unblama- 
ble was her daily demeanor, 

With a few final extracts from her diary, we 
shall conclude the active portion of this history. 
They will supply some omissions in the narra- 
tive, and they will show how the Lord was 
preparing his servant for her everlasting rest. 

;, 127. George-street. Edinburgh. Monday. 
Dec. 25. 1543. — Having omitted to bring my 
diary here with me. I have neglected writing 
for some weeks. Here I have been enjoying 
the highest privileges, for which at some periods 
of mv life I would have given anything. I am 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 255 

in the same lodgings with Mr. William Burns, 
having the two best floors, and he some rooms 
above. I am thus enabled to attend his family 
worship night and morning, and he preaches 
regularly every Sabbath morning and twice 
during the week. To-day I was again feasted 
at his class for young women by his exposition 
of the question, What is God? I had before, 
nearly two years ago I think, heard part of this 
sublime subject with inexpressible delight, but 
left Edinburgh before he finished it, little hoping 
to hear any more. Now, if spared in health, I 
may hear the rest. Lord, grant it, and the 
blessing ! 

" 31. — Arrived at the end of another year, 
w r hat can I say of myself in it ? Perhaps I little 
know or think of my neglected duties, or many 
sins, but my heart does not smite me much; 
and yet I see others in labors much more abun- 
dant, as dear Mr. Burns in this house, com- 
plaining bitterly of unprofitableness. It is prob- 
able that I am contented with a very low state 
both of feeling and labor. Let me press onward 
and forward. I took the family worship, as I 
do always on the Sabbaths, as Mr. Burns is 
late of returning from the young men's class. 



256 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

" March 10, 1844. — I find more than a month 
has elapsed and I have omitted writing here. 
A passage from i Dorney's Letters' came to 
me with power and comfort. ' The soul that 
is willing Christ should both save him and 
purge him, shall be saved and purged ; and 
God cannot but account him clean from con- 
demning guilt.' I have made an attempt to 
lead one, who I fear has been afar off, and 
have lent a book with faith and prayer (' TVil- 
berforce's View'). From my being enabled to 
pray, I hope well in this. 

" March 17. — My heart is rejoiced this 
evening by one of the servant-girls in these 
lodgings, whom I have been teaching, with the 
other, on the Sabbaths, telling me that what I 
said to her on prayer had been much blessed 
to her, and that she now found many oppor- 
tunities to pray, and was happy in Christ. O 
Lord ! truly I praise thee for this. Humbly 
and gratefully I thank Thee for making me 
the honored instrument in thy glorious work. 
Bless and protect this poor girl, and build her 
up in the faith ; and may she glorify Thee 
eternally ! 

" April 14. — An event of some importance 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 257 

to our family has occurred since I last wrote 
here, — the birth of a son to my son, Sir James. 
His mother has been very delicate since ; but 
all is in the hand of God ; to Him I commit 
them, believing that He will do well. To-day 
I feel rather unwell, and am the less unwilling* 
to remain at home, as (it is somewhat strange) 
I almost always find God more present during 
the Sabbath-day when thus confined, than 
when attending ordinances. Oh ! it is GW, 
not ordinances, I seek. Wherever He is present, 
I would be. And this day He ivas present, 
especially during the hours of the morning 
service. A letter received lately from Mr. 
Denniston, of Jamaica, with some observations 
on walking with God, was blessed to me this 
morning. 

" 28. — A communion Sabbath. I was privi- 
leged to hear Mr. A. Bonar, Mr. Somerville, 
and Dr. Duncan, on the previous days, but 
without any particular blessing ; when, last 
night, a friend said she had been exhorted 
simply to receive Christ's broken body, as 
broken for her sins, and his shed blood as shed 
for her; and these few words brought joy and 
faith with them, which remained with me at 
22* 



258 LIFE OP LADY COLQJJHOUN. 

the table ; I was enabled to see a little of the 
Lord's beauty, and rejoice in Him. My daughter- 
in-law continues in a most precarious state ; it 
seems uncertain whether or not she will re- 
cover. I have told her of the danger, and 
prayed with her several times. 

" May 5. — A different Sabbath indeed from 
the last, Lady Colquhoun having departed this 
life on Friday afternoon. I witnessed her 
death, and have been since almost constantly 
with my son, at 132, George-street. The 
infant lives, and will be m) r precious charge. 
Thus a fresh line of duty and care devolves 
upon me, different, indeed, from what I should 
have sought. I am dumb ; I open not my 
mouth : for God has done this. It is His way, 
therefore a right way. 

" May 19. — I am beginning to awake from 
the dream of late events, in my family, and am 
also beginning, I hope, to return to the Lord. 
I am certainly led in a way I would not in 
present circumstances : but it must be right. 
It goes to my heart \^hen I recollect my dear 
little boy at Stutton, and my religious instruc- 
tions of him last summer, and that now we 
cannot meet. One thing sweetly reconciles 



LIFE OF LADY COLQJJHOUN. 259 

me, — God did it. I was present at the open- 
ing of the Free Assembly, and enjoyed it 
much. 

" 26. — I was once or twice more at the Meet- 
ings of Assembly, which are truly solemn and 
interesting ; but having caught cold, I am 
now debarred from them, and also from ordi- 
nances, to-day. I have, however, found God 
in private, both in reading and prayer. I lie 
very low because of shortcoming and sin ; but 
I feel the value of the sacrifice offered for it, 
and see something of that righteousness which 
is unto all and upon all them that believe. 
Throughout the day my heart has rested on 
God as my portion. Oh, how precious ! Thus 
at times creatures, the whole creation, keep 
their just place in my regard. I pant for more 
of this. 

" Rossdhii) August 11. — Was much blessed 
in the house of prayer to-day, Mr. Stew- 
art preaching on the freedom of the Gospel 
offer, from John iii. 15. I had longed to hear 
him on this subject ; and it was very joyful to 
me to hear Christ so freely and unconditionally 
preached at Luss. Lord, thou hast given us 
much in this Church, and in this thy de- 



260 LIFE OF LADY COLQXHOUX. 

voted servant as our pastor : yet all this may- 
be without the blessing. For the Holy Ghost 
I pray: earnestly, unweariedly I pray for the 
descent of the Spirit upon this place and 
people. I pray in faith, and. looking up. ex- 
pect the answer. I think I shall yet. if spared, 
write here that I am heard. O Lord, hasten 
the time ! 

"Sept S.— The three last Sabbaths Lady 
Sinclair and my sisters were here. They were 
tolerably well spent : in some of them I was 
enabled to return to the evening service. Our 
good pastor was absent last Lord"s-dav. having 
lost a sister, who died in the Lord. To-day 
Mr. Stewart gave us a delightful sermon on 
Christ the Resurrection and the Life. It came 
home to my heart. Surely I possess this 
spiritual life. I feel something within me that 
lives to God. that delights in God. that cannot 
exist without God. that must be derived from 
God. And if this new nature be. in the first 
instance, imparted without a right or title, it 
shall be preserved and strengthened unto ever- 
lasting life. These and such thoughts have 
been very joyful to me this day. I also felt 
truly grateful to the Almighty that there is 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 261 

such a change to the better in my Gospel priv- 
ileges here. Oh, thanks be unto God for this ! 

" Dec. 15. — We little know what a day may 
bring forth. Nearly a fortnight ago I fell down 
thirteen steps of a stair, and was much bruised; 
but, most providentially, had no bone broken, 
and was not otherwise injured. It is singular 
that this fall has been the means of prayer be- 
ing answered : and, between a sense of grati- 
tude for that, and for my merciful preservation, 
my heart has been full of thankfulness and 
praise. I was about a week confined to bed ; 
but never was God so present with me in ill- 
ness. I could pray always, and rejoice too. 
Mr. Stewart visits me often, and has been a 
great comfort to me. 1 was still unable to go 
out to-day. My dear daughter and Mr. Reade, 
with his little boy, are now here. 

" Jan. 5, 1845. — I am now able to attend in 
God's house, and have been there the two last 
Sabbaths. I am happy with many of my fami- 
ly about me ; but, alas ! intercourse with others 
has in some measure deadened my heart to 
God. I look back to my sick-bed with some- 
thing like regret, for then I was with Him all 
day ; yet He will never leave nor forsake me. 



262 LIFE OF LADY COLQ.UHO UN. . 

" March 20. — How uncertain are all things 
here ! This day week Lady Sinclair, my kind 
friend and stepmother, was taken ill with a bil- 
ious attack, and to-day is in that state we can- 
not say when she may be taken hence. I went 
in a chair to see her yesterday and to-day, be- 
ing unwell myself. It is a sorrowing family. 
I prayed with them, and said what I could. 
Oh ! for a sanctified use of the afflictions that 
are thickening around them ; for my sister, Mrs. 
Stewart, has long been also in a very precari- 
ous way, but seems to rest on the Rock of 
Ages. Lord, how soon may such a time as 
this come to me ! I feel this evening united to 
Christ. 

"27. — How much have I to write this even- 
ing ! My kind friend, Lady Sinclair, is no 
more ; my sister, Mrs. Stewart, also gone. I 
was much with the former ; but her recollec- 
tion was greatly impaired, and she could say 
little on any subject. I saw her after death. 
Ah ! how solemn was the scene ! — how sad the 
feelings of her sorrowing family ! Yesterday 
she was consigned to the same grave at Holy- 
rood, where my father lies. Mrs. Stewart gave 
pleasing evidence of being in a state of salva- 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 263 

tion. Oh to be ready when my summons shall 
come ! To-day I commemorated my Lord's 
death in St. Luke's. 

" Rossdhu, Oct. 19. — I think grace grows ; 
but it is downward growth. It is a greater 
sense of need, and a feeling that none but 
Christ can help. To-day I was thinking that 
I have every reason to trust that the l Beloved 
is mine/ because he has me so heartily willing 
to be saved in his own way. 

" Jan. 4, 1846. — I begin another year in 
health and comfort. This is the first day of 
the Concert for Prayer. I heartily joined in 
petitioning for an abundant outpouring of the 
precious Spirit ; and I intend meeting with the 
servants during the week, in accordance with 
the appointment of our Church. I had an an- 
swer to prayer last week. How merciful is our 
God! 

"25. — Probably the last Sabbath here, as we 
propose leaving foi" Edinburgh on Wednesday. 
I pray earnestly for a blessing on the congrega- 
tion and its pastor, and on the parish, — a new 
minister having been appointed for the'Estab- 
lished Church. I do hope that this change will 
not prove unimportant, but that some good may 



264 LIFE OF LADY COLGlUHOUN. 

come of it, and the hand of God be seen in it. 
I put my trust in Him for many things now de- 
pending on his providence. 

" 18, Ainslie-place, Edinburgh, April 12. — 
Since writing here a fortnight ago, I have gone 
through a good deal. A few days after, I be- 
came very feverish, and about a week was 
nearly confined to bed. I suffered also, and 
still suffer, from a depressing nervousness, 
which is hard to bear, — disturbing my rest at 
night, and taking away my peace by day. 
Yet I think this illness has been blessed to me. 
Christ has appeared very precious ; and al- 
though at times I could scarcely see my inter- 
est in Him, at other times I could embrace the 
simple promise, and hold Him fast, and not let 
Him go without a blessing. Sick and in bed 
last Lord's-day, I could do nothing but offer a 
few words of prayer. To-day I am able to be 
up, and am rapidly recovering ; but being 
nervous, I thought, 'How shall I spend my 
sacred hoars V Looking through some books 
that had been lent me by my sister Catherine, 
I alighted on ' The True Christian,' by Jones, 
of Creaton. Here I found much just suited to 
my need. All seemed encouraging ; and many 



LIFE OF LADY COLGIUHOUN. 265 

times to-day I have been receiving Christ and 
all his fulness. In writing of this illness, I 
must not forget to notice my many temporal 
blessings. God has given me ail I possibly 
could desire. Truly, 'He has made all my 
bed in my sickness. 5 

" 19. — Although still feeble, I have been pro- 
gressing towards complete recovery during the 
w T eek. Thanks to a gracious God ! I have 
felt great benefit from this illness. I never so 
strongly saw my need of Christ, nor so fully 
closed with him. Reading this morning in 
Jones's little book, I felt assured that what he 
describes as certain marks of the new nature, 
— the love of God for what He is ; the love of 
holiness ; the love of the Spirit wherever seen ; 
the love of the law, — I felt convinced that these 
marks are mine, and something like assurance 
grew upon it. 

" 26. — I communicated in Free St. Stephen's, 
and scarcely ever enjoyed so much in the sac- 
ramental feast. I was fed in last week's pre- 
paratory services ; but especially to-day, both 
in the sanctuary and at home, God was pres- 
ent. I awoke early, and, before rising, read 
with much delight the sixth chapter of John. 
23 



266 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN, 

Mr. Gillies, on the love of Christ, from John 
xiii. 1, was truly delightful. Dr. James Bu- 
chanan served the second table, and followed 
in the same strain, from l Christ loved the 
Church, and gave himself for it.' I have heard 
soul-refreshing truths, and I have given myself 
to the Lord, and rejoice in his love. God ena- 
bling me, I will henceforth confide in Him more. 
" Rossdhu, June 28. — Many weeks have 
elapsed since I was able to note down my 
spiritual state and feelings. I have been very 
ill ; and, after coming here from Edinburgh, 
was obliged to return to it for medical advice. 
The Almighty directed me to Dr. Simpson, 
who at once saw the root of the evil, and whose 
method of treatment has, under Providence, 
given me great relief. The nervousness which 
so distressed me is gone. I have had a sight 
of death : for when one attack followed another, 
I often thought I might not recover. Alas ! I 
never can view it with that desire to depart 
which many of God's children feel. However, 
in this, as in everything else, I must lean upon 
the Beloved, and hope He will guide me in 
safety through the dark valley. I seem to 
have been at school, and trust I have learned 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 267 

something, especially my helplessness, worth- 
lessness, utter insufficiency. Against this 
could I but set Christ's strength, worth, suffi- 
ciency, all would be well. I was five weeks in 
Edinburgh, and returned two days ago. God 
has mercifully kept my little grandson in health 
during my absence, and all has been mercifully 
ordered. 

" July 5. — Not well, but continuing to re- 
cover. Was at church, and heard a missionary, 
Mr. Strachan, preach, on Luke i. 76 — 79. How 
dark, how awful would have been our thoughts 
regarding futurity, had not the tender mercy of 
our God caused the Day-spring to visit us, giv- 
ing knowledge of salvation and the remission 
of sins ! Blessed knowledge ! most needful 
remission ! Deeply, most deeply do I feel my 
need of it." 



CHAPTER VII. 



PRECIOUS IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD IS THE DEATH OF HIS 
SAINTS. PSALM CXVI. 15. 



The quiet chamber where the Christian sleeps, 
And where, from year to year, he prays and weeps ; 
Whence, in the midnight watch, his thoughts arise 
To those bright mansions where his treasure lies, — 
How near it is to all his faith can see ! 
Yes, for that bliss unspeakable, unseen, 
Is ready, and the veil of flesh between 
A gentle sigh may rend, and then display 
The broad, fall splendor of an endless day. 

JANE TAYLOR. 



The last chapter left the subject of this 
Memoir in shattered health ; and from its 
depressing influence on the nervous system, 
the illness of that spring was at first peculiarly- 
painful. The temperament of Lady Colqu- 
houn was in unison with her sober judgment, 
and any deviations from its habitual tran- 
quillity were generally in a cheerful direction ; 
and so seldom was her religious experience 



LIFE OF LADY C0LQUH0UN. 269 

tinctured with gloom, that she had a very- 
imperfect sympathy with the deep dejection of 
some eminent Christians, in whose biography- 
she otherwise found delight and instruction. 
When, therefore, dreary or disconsolate weeks 
were appointed, she felt as if some strange 
thing had happened to her ; but, instead of 
yielding to despondency, her sound understand- 
ing ascribed to its real pathological origin this 
withdrawment of sensible comfort, and with 
unshaken confidence she rested still on the 
Rock of her Salvation; and through her 
heavenly Father's tender mercy, this trying 
attendant on her malady was ere long suc- 
ceeded by her wonted serenity. 

Having come to Rossdhu in May. as has 
already been mentioned, she was obliged to 
return to Edinburgh for medical advice almost 
immediately. There, in much weakness, she 
spent the month of June ; and we have now 
before us the notes, neatly, but feebly written, 
in which she conveyed tidings of her progress 
to her servants at home. To her attached 
housekeeper she wrote, — 

"Monday. — Your few lines, which I received 
23* 



270 LIFE OF LADY COLQJJHOUN. 

this morning, gave me pleasure, — to hear of 
the clear child's keeping well, and that all is 
going on comfortably. I am able to be up 
now, and in the parlor; but this last illness 
has thrown me back. I would say I am sorry, 
but am silenced by the thought, — it is the 
Lord. Dr. Simpson is now to go on with his 
prescriptions, to which the Lord can give 
efficacy if so seemeth Him good. But what if 
now should be His time to call me hence? I 
should be ' also ready.' He will do well. I do 
not know that there is much cause for alarm. 
I have less nervousness, and sleep better. We 
have comfortable lodgings. I am in good 
hands. (Deut. xxxiii. 3.) I am happy you 
had such good assistance at the communion. 
" Your sincere friend, — J. C.' 7 

To her little grandson, now two years old, 
she had always shown the tenderest affection, 
and a chief part of her present trial was sep- 
aration from him. Many of these notes are 
addressed to his nurse : — 

" May 29. — I was very glad indeed to hear 
that my dear little boy continued strong, and 
was behaving well. May God in mercy watch 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHQUN. 271 

over him, and bring me back to him in com- 
fort ! I sometimes feel the thought that (poor 
little fellow !) he cannot understand why I 
have left him. I am going on with the means 
prescribed, and have less of the nervousness 
than I had, and I sleep better. I am out as 
much as possible, and have every reason to be 
thankful for goodness and mercy following 
me." 

In the beginning of July she returned to 
Dumbartonshire, recruited ; but on the 18th 
of that month an aguish fever compelled her 
to hasten back to Edinburgh. There again 
the means were blessed ; and she recovered 
strength enough to hear Dr. Gordon and Mr. 
Gillies preach, and was able to pay a visit to 
the venerable widow of her old pastor, Di\ 
Buchanan. When Lady Colquhoun rose to 
take leave, her aged friend insisted on accom- 
panying her to the door ; and to the gentle re- 
monstrance of her niece, replied, " It is the 
last time.' 5 She did not think that the 
younger was to go first, for her " own time was 
not yet." 

From Edinburgh, about the middle of Au- 
gust, she proceeded to Helensburgh, and was 



272 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

sufficiently well to take a lively interest in 
every movement affecting the welfare of the 
Redeemer's kingdom. She had there, in the 
preceding year, organized a branch of the 
Irish Home Mission ; and whilst its affairs 
gave her some occupation, she was greatly 
cheered by accounts of the progress made by 
Hindoo girls attending the schools of her 
favorite Society in India. A month's sojourn 
on the coast apparently revived her strength ; 
and at the period of her final return to Ross- 
dhu, her habitual language was gratitude to 
the Father of all mercies. Peaceful slumber 
was a boon which she now frequently enjoyed, 
and had learned exceedingly to prize ; and in 
the mornings she would frequently say, " How 
thankful should I be when I think of Mrs. 
Cathcart !" Mrs. C. had been deprived of rest 
at night for a long time before her death, — the 
only true repose she could obtain being a short 
sleep in the evening, on a sofa in the drawing- 
room. 

On the 29th of September, when out walk- 
ing, she was overtaken in a shower, and 
obliged to seek shelter under a tree. She her- 
self apprehended no injury, and smiled at the 



LIFE OF LADY COLGIUHOUN. 273 

excessive caution of her family in sending out 
cloaks and shawls. Next morning, however, 
she complained of sore throat and fever ; but 
though that morning she appeared at the 
breakfast-table, and for two days continued to 
go about and converse with her usual cheerful- 
ness, she evidently grew worse, and before 
Sabbath the 4th of October, she had taken to 
that bed from which she was never again to 
arise. On that first Sabbath of her illness, one 
of the servants, to whom she had often spoken 
on the concerns of her soul, came into the 
room ; and, after saying a few kind words to 
her, Lady Colquhoun offered to pray with her, 
as she had frequently done in other days. 
The brief but touching prayer will not readily 
be forgotten by her on whose behalf it was 
offered, all the rather, that every utterance 
had now become an exertion. To one of 
her family that day she said emphatically, 
" i Christ is all my salvation and all my de- 
sire. 5 I hope for salvation in nothing but 
Christ." 

At an early period of her illness she sent for 
Sir James, desiring to speak to him alone. 
She told him that before she became too ill, 



274 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

she wanted to give directions about her fune- 
ral ; that she did not wish to have any one 
invited but the nearest relations, and that it 
should be quite private. She then sent for 
her youngest son, and with perfect composure 
told them her apprehension as to the result, 
adding, " I die at the foot of the cross." Next 
day she gave her youngest son directions re- 
garding certain charities, one of which was, 
that the sum she had paid for the education 
of a theological student should be continued 
till his college course was ended. " I see," she 
said, " that you are affected ; but I know that 
you will pay attention to my wishes, as I have 
not left them as bequests in my will." She 
then subjoined with great earnestness, " Christ 
is my Portion ; and, oh ! what a Portion ! 
Seek that Portion." 

A message had been sent to Edinburgh for 
Dr. Simpson. His partner, Dr. Keith, arrived 
on the 6th, and stayed all night ; Dr. Simpson 
came on the 9th; and during the remainder 
of her illness — an attack of dysentery then 
prevalent, — one or other of these distinguished 
practitioners was frequently with her, doing 
all that skill and kindness could devise, often 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 275 

to the great temporary relief of their patient. 
But from her first seizure she herself seemed 
to have only one impression regarding the 
issue. About a week after its commencement 
she said to one of the household, "Mrs. L., I 
am convinced that this illness is to end in 
death ; and I have just one hope — only one,— 
and that is, the finished work of Jesus." On 
her attendant expressing a hope that she might 
recover, she answered, " Oh, no ! And for me 
to live would be Christ, but to die will be gain, 
— unspeakable gain ;" and then, after a short 
prayer, she musingly added, "And shall I see 
Him as He is — so soon ? And shall I join the 
Redeemed around the throne? Overwhelm- 
ing thought !" The next day, — and it was 
the only day that she so complained, — she 
spoke as if under a cloud, and requested that 
those words might be read to her (Isa. xliii. 
1 — 3), " Fear not : for I have redeemed thee, 
I have called thee by thy name ; thou art 
mine. When thou passes t through the waters, 
I will be with thee ; and through the rivers, 
they shall not overflow thee : when thou walk- 
est through the fire, thou shalt not be burned ; 
neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For 



276 LIFE OF LADY COLQ.UHOUN. 

I am the Lord thy G.d, the Holy One of Israel, 
thy Saviour." But after that she seemed to 
be no more disturbed, often saying. " What a 
blessing it is that the enemy is kept away !" 
And from her lips were constantly dropping 
such expressions as, "The righteous hath 
hope in his death." "I know that my Re- 
deemer liveth." " I cannot praise Him as I 
would ; but I shall yet praise Him in perfec- 
tion ; yes. through all eternity." 

She earnestly desired to see her daughter, 
Mrs. Page Reade ; but as the distance was 
great, feared that she might not reach Rossdhu 
in time to see her alive. 

It was a great delight to her when her sec- 
ond son arrived from Edinburgh. She took 
his hand, saying '-That dear hand !" and after 
conversing cheerfully and minutely with him 
about his family, she ended by affectionately 
giving him her blessing. 

Two lovely features of Christian character 
were very observable during this illness, a sweet 
acquiescence in the will of God aid a constant 
mindfulness of others. Her sufferings were 
often very great, but she bore them without a 
murmur. On one occasion, when the pain was 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 277 

violent, and in eagerness for speedy relief many- 
palliatives were tried in quick succession, she 
said to one of the servants, "1 fear you will 
think me impatient;" and the servant, who 
was only thinking* of her mistress's sufferings, 
could give no answer but by bursting into 
tears. Another time, when her daughter was 
expressing the hope that she might yet be 
spared to them, her answer was, " And would 
you wish to keep me here? You don't know 
what I suffer." Then recollecting how these 
words might be understood, and alarmed at 
the idea of their conveying an impression of 
repining, with a look of anguish she exclaim- 
ed, "Oh, do I complain? I did not mean to 
complain. I retract these words." And when 
there was any abatement of suffering, she took 
care to apprize those near her, often by a sin- 
gle word when she could say no more, " Better, 
easy, — easier," or "The Lord be praised for 
that." And in perfect self-forgetfulness, her 
great concern was for the health and comfort 
of those who ministered to her. In deep 
weakness she would remember the minutest 
precautions lest her daughter might catch cold 
sitting by her bedside over-night. During her 
24 



278 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

own sickness the oldest inmate of the estab- 
lishment was very low, — the aged nurse, Mrs. 
Barbara Graham. For years this faithful ser- 
vant had been very frail and almost bed-ridden, 
and now, like her kind mistress, she was rap- 
idly sinking ; and to Lady Colquhoun it was a 
frequent anxiety, lest in their attendance on 
herself poor Graham should feel lonely or be 
any way overlooked. Amongst other relatives 
then at Rossdhu was her sister-in-law, Miss 
Colquhoun ; and, speaking to her, she re- 
marked, "You- must find this a dull house," 
and she charged her servants to do all they 
could for the comfort of the guests, so that they 
might not be too much reminded of her own 
indisposition. 

She could now take scarcely any sustenance, 
and as it was with the outer, so was it with 
the inner man. Her soul desired no dainty 
meat. And though she had many favorites in 
Christian authorship, during these latter days 
she never asked a portion from one of them. 
In the same w T ay, though her memory was 
richly stored with hymns and spiritual songs, 
it looked as if the familiar stanzas were now 
forgotten. To her the word of God was by 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 279 

this time everything. Such texts as Isaiah 
xxxii. 2, John xiv. 27, and xvii. 24, Romans 
viii. 32 — 39, were cordials which her spirit 
drank in when it cared for nothing else. That 
passage in the Romans was the last to which 
she listened, and it is interesting to know that 
it is the last which was read to her beloved 
sister, Hannah. And though it was an effort 
to speak much, it seemed to make the effort 
less if it were some " tried word" that she was 
quoting. Just previous to this illness her 
daughter had been suffering from headache, 
and one day to her affectionate inquiry Miss 
Colquhoun replying that she was quite well, 
she rejoined, " He stayeth his rough wind in 
the day of his east wind." And at the time 
when her precarious state was first revealed to 
her family, perceiving Miss C. in deep distress, 
she gently said, " £ All his saints are in thy 
hand.' Do you remember that?" — alluding to 
a sermon preached in the foregoing spring, by 
Mr. Gillies, the notes of which had afforded 
her singular delight. And at another time, 
turning to her daughter with a look of ineffable 
fondness, she repeated, " I will never leave 
thee nor forsake thee." 



280 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 

About seven days before her departure she 
sent for ail the servants, and spoke to them 
separately on the things of their eternal peace. 
To one she said, " Mary, you will soon lose 
me. Your day may not be so near, but it is 
coming ; see that you have an interest in 
Christ before that ; for what would I do to-day 
without him ? M., don't forget me, and re- 
member all I have told you ; and be sure you 
attend to the preaching of the Word. I bene- 
fited much from that in my own youth. And 
thank you for all that you have done for me." 
To another she said, " Look at me, a poor 
helpless creature, and don't put off preparing 
for eternity till you come to a death-bed. May 
the Lord be with you !" To another, " Now 
I., be kind to Graham as long as you have 
her ; but above all, oh remember your own 
soul ! Good-by, God bless you !" And to one 
in whose spiritual welfare she had much inter- 
ested herself, " Well, Mary. I wish to bid you 
good-by ; for I will soon be taken from you. 
Never forget what I have said to you ; and oh, 
take Jesus for your friend, and then there will 
be no fear of you ; good-by, Mary." And great 
as was the exertion to her wasted frame, so 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,TJHOUN. 281 

intent was she on addressing a word of kind- 
ness and parting counsel to every one of them, 
that, having missed one of the men-servants 
she sent a messenger to bring him. She had 
something suitable for each, and no one was 
overlooked. 

What else transpired within the precincts of 
that hallowed chamber must be told in the 
words of filial affection : — " She now felt as if 
her w T ork were done. At the same time she 
declared that she renounced all dependence on 
anything she had ever performed, as her best 
was altogether sinful ; adding, ' Christ is my 
hope, should be my motto ; I rely entirely on 
his finished work.' To myself she said, i My 
death will do you more good than my life could 
do ; for it will show you more forcibly than 
anything that can happen, the vanity of 
earthly things.' After expressing in strong 
terms how much she felt at leaving me behind, 
she said, £ I wish I could take you with me ; 
but God can make up my loss to you.' I told 
her that a letter had come to her from her be- 
loved friend, Miss S. She said, ' Poor A. ! 
little does she think of the news that awaits 
24* 



282 LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHO UN. 

her ;' but she did not ask to have the letter 
read. Indeed, she was too ill to listen. 

" Six days before her death, the nurse brought 
her little grandson to the door of her chamber, 
and I asked if she might bring him in. l Oh, 
yes, 5 she replied, ' tell her to bring him in that 
I may see him for the last time. 5 Her eyes 
were now almost constantly closed, but she 
raised them and looked on him with inexpres- 
sible tenderness. Then giving him her bless- 
ing, she prayed 'that the Lord might make 
him a child of grace, and that, if spared, he 
might yet witness for his own cause. 5 She 
then said, i I have given him up to God, and 
commit him to His care ; 5 and gave his nurse 
her blessing. The dear child's look of infan- 
tine delight at again beholding his grand- 
mamma was touchingly contrasted with all be- 
sides in that solemn scene. She spoke of her 
daughter, Mrs. Reade, and of the probability 
that she and Mr. Reade were then on their 
way. ' But tell Helen how much I love her, 
and give my love to Mr. Reade, and their 
dear, dear little boy. 5 That evening, when all 
the family who were then at home were as- 
sembled in her apartment, she desired a light 



LIFE OF LADY COLGtUHOUN. 283 

to be brought near, and asked if they saw 
much change iu her appearance ; but though 
very wasted, it was wonderful how little alter- 
ation had come over that placid countenance. 

" On the morning of the 17th, her sister and 
sister-in-law being about to leave, came to bid 
her farewell. To Miss Diana Sinclair she 
said, ' Set the Lord Jesus always before you, 
and it will be your comfort on your death-bed, 
as it is at this moment mine.' In a previous 
interview her sister had been much affected by 
her asking, 'Do I not remind you of Hannah?' 
When Miss Colquhoun afterwards came into 
the room, she likewise exhorted her to go to 
the Saviour, and embraced her affectionately 
and gave her her blessing. By that day's post 
intelligence was received that Mr. and Mrs. 
Reade would reach Rossdhu in the evening. 
They accordingly arrived at seven o'clock, hav- 
ing travelled day and night. The meeting, 
though affecting, was an inexpressible comfort 
to mother and daughter. 

a On first seeing Mrs. Reade, she repeated 
'I am so thankful, I am so thankful ;' adding, 
£ Yesterday I never expected to see you again 
in this world ; but how merciful is my gracious 



284 LIFE OF LADY COLGIUHOUN. 

Lord to hear my prayers, that you may re- 
ceive my parting blessing still!' And then 
she continued, ' But I am much better to-day ; 
indeed, I feel better since you arrived ; al- 
though you must find me much changed. 
However, we must look from this to the glori- 
ous change.' She then asked to see Mr. Reade, 
and her young grandson, James Reade, for 
whom she had always evinced a great affec- 
tion. He was then seven years old. She re- 
minded him of the times when she used to 
take such pleasure in teaching him chapters 
from the Bible and hymns, and when she 
used to tell him of Jesus' love to little children. 
She then asked him to repeat the last six 
verses of the eleventh chapter of Matthew, and 
then told him that she had no fears of death 
because she had cast her ' heavy load' on 
Jesus, who was willing to receive l all' who 
'came' to him. And when she ended with 
saying, ' I trust, dear boy, we shall one day 
meet in heaven ; there is plenty of room there,' 
and more to the same purport, tears filled the 
eyes of all who overheard her simple exhorta- 
tion." 

Being so much better that day, Mrs. Reade 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 285 

asked what would be her own wishes in regard 
to recovery. She answered that her only tie 
to life now would be to be with them all, and 
then she said, " Perhaps it would be better if 
I went now, having advanced so far on the 
way ; for even if I do recover from this illness, 
I shall sooner or later have to go through the 
same scene again, and at my period of life the 
time must be short." 

" A few days before her death," — we resume 
Miss Colquhoun's narrative, — "on being raised 
up, she remarked, with apparent satisfaction, 
that she could not see out of the window nor 
distinguish objects at any distance. Thank- 
fulness was still a prominent trait of her dis- 
position, and every relief from pain called forth 
some grateful acknowledgment. i Thanks, 
Lord,' was her usual emphatic expression 
every time she received her medicines or such 
slight nourishment as she was able to take. 
Dr. Simpson's last visit was on the night of the 
19th, and he was again the means of allevia- 
ting her sufferings for a time. He could do no 
more. She gradually relapsed, and it was 
plain that her release could not be distant. 
She herself seemed to long for it, and fre- 



286 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

quently repeated, ' Come, Lord Jesus, come 
quickty.' She asked if the doctors would not 
know by her pulse how long she was likely to 
last, and said to Mrs. Reade, when they were 
together alone, ' Now think if there is any- 
thing else you would like to say or to ask ; for 
my time is very short.' Mrs. R. replied, ' You 
seem very anxious to be gone.' 'Yes,' was 
the answer, c the sooner the better now, for me 
and for you too ; but I must be patient.' She 
then said, < Dearest H., you will never forget 
all I have said to you. I sometimes fear I 
have not said enough to you all ; but I commit 
you to the Saviour.' Mrs. R. said, ' I am sure 
it rests with ourselves if we have not benefited 
as we ought.' She replied, 'That's gratify- 
ing,' — and after a few more remarks, ended 
at that time by embracing her affectionately, 
and with great earnestness and solemnity 
gave her the final blessing. She then desired 
Mrs. R. to bring her little boy, James Reade, 
that he might also receive her parting blessing, 
and she took leave of him in a most affection- 
ate manner. 

" On the evening of the 20th she took an af- 
fectionate leave of her eldest and youngest 



LIFE OF LADY COLQ,UHOUN. 287 

sons. She thanked my eldest brother for all 
his kindness to her, particularizing some of her 
obligations to him. and then she gave each of 
them her last blessing, adding, i I hope to meet 
you all at the right hand of the Judge. 5 After 
midnight she desired that I should endeavor to 
procure some rest, and as her attendants prom- 
ised to come for me if Lady Colquhoun be- 
came worse, I complied, the more readily as 
the violence of her sufferings had now consid- 
erably abated. Towards morning she showed 
her usual consideration for those around her. 
A maid-servant had sat up to relieve one of 
her regular attendants ; and when she was 
leaving the room, though articulation was now 
very difficult, she said, 'Remember, M., you 
must not go to your work as usual to-day.' 
That morning, the 21st, I found her quiet, and 
apparently free from pain, though evidently 
going home. Her eyes were closed, but she 
was not asleep ; for when I spoke she threw 
her arms round my neck and kissed me affec- 
tionately. It was a mother's last embrace. 
She then said to me, • My Sarah, I have not 
given you my blessing. I pray that God may 
bless you with all spiritual blessings in heaven- 



2S3 LIFE OF LADY COLGtUHOrX. 

ly places in Christ Jesus.' By and by she said, 
'I wish none to be with me but my family.' 

My sister and I knew that this was in allusion 
to her last moments. She again asked to see 
her little grandson, James Reade : but when he 
was brought the shades of death had obscured 
her sight. She said, • Where is he ? I cannot see 
him.' Mrs. R. put his hand within hers, and 
she grasped it firmly, her lips moving as if in 
prayer. Mrs. R. and I sat down by her bed- 
side, and after a short interval I said to her, 
1 We shall meet in heaven.' She returned no 
answer, nor could I be sure that she heard me. 
I then said, { And Jesus is with you now.' She 
turned her head round to me. and made an ef- 
fort to reply, and by the expression of her coun- 
tenance I am quite certain that she understood 
me. She spoke no more, and seemed as in a 
soft sleep. She faintly acquiesced when Mrs. 
Reade asked if she would like to see Mr. Stew- 
art, in whose visits she had taken peculiar 
pleasure. She was quite unable to speak to 
him when he arrived, but assented when asked 
if he should pray. Vv~e kneeled down, and in 
a most solemn and impressive prayer Mr. S. 
commended her soul to God. After this she 



LIFE OF LADY COLGIUHOUN. 289 

lingered, as if in a peaceful slumber, until three 
o'clock in the afternoon, when, without a strug- 
gle, a groan, or sigh, her willing spirit took its 
flight to those glorious realms for which she 
had longed so ardently. But so gentle, so im- 
perceptible was her release, that for some time 
we could scarcely believe she was really gone. 
'She was not, for God took her;' and after 
death her countenance retained the peaceful, 
tranquil look it had worn when living." 

It was on Wednesday, October 21, 1846, that 
her shining path thus merged in perfect day. 
And on the following Saturday another pilgri- 
mage ended. Mrs. Graham only outlived by 
three days that kind and grateful mistress who 
had provided with every comfort her years of 
infirmity and decay. On Tuesday the 27th the 
chapel, which ten years before had received the 
remains of her husband, opened for the coffin 
of Lady Colquhoun. In compliance with her 
own request, she still wore her wedding-ring 
and a mourning ring containing Sir James's 
hair. The funeral was private, but a few of the 
people in the neighborhood sought and received 
permission to be present. Mr. N. Stewart con- 
ducted the usual service before the precious re- 
25 



290 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

mains were carried forth to the place of sepul- 
ture. It was exactly four weeks that day when 
last she looked on the tints of autumn. The 
copses were russet then, and the noble trees 
around the mansion wore their final drapery 
of scarlet, and brown, and gold, a sight which 
she used wonderfully to admire. But by the 
time the withered leaves were drifting into her 
grave, she needed not to mind that it was winter 
in the earth ; for, instead of the roughening lake 
and the searing forest, God had showed her 
" the pure river, clear as crystal," and " the tree 
of life, yielding fruit every month," and whose 
leaves " heal the nations :" and, better still, she 
had found her life-long wish ; she " served God 
and saw his face."' 

On the following Sabbath her funeral sermon 
was preached from Heb. vi. 12, in the Free 
Church of Luss, by her much-valued friend and 
minister, the Rev. Neil Stewart, and in the 
parish church an appropriate and impressive 
sermon was delivered from John xiv. 27, by the 
Rev. Robert Wright. And when the various 
religious societies and charitable institutions 
with which she had been connected held their 



LIFE OF LADY COLaUHOUN. 291 

next meetings, they placed on record their fer 
vent tributes of affection and esteem.* 

* In the " Thirty-sixth Annual Report of the Gaelic School 
Society," appeared the following just and discriminating no- 
tice, which we have much satisfaction in transferring to these 
pages : — 

" Before passing from what refers to the Ladies' Associa- 
tion, your Committee lament to say, that in common with all 
the friends of religion in this land, they have, in the death 
of Lady Colquhoun, to mourn over the removal from among 
them of one who formed a distinguished member of Christ's 
Church upon earth, — one who adorned the profession of 
Christianity, and who formed an invaluable friend of the 
Gaelic School Society, as Treasurer of the Laches' Association, 
and one of the Society's Vice-Patronesses. The Committee 
have a melancholy satisfaction in transferring to these pages 
the minute which they have recorded elsewhere, on this af 
fecting event in the history of the past year, — with the senti- 
ments expressed in which, they feel assured, all the friends 
of the Society will heartily sympathize : — 

" ' It is with deep concern and solemnity of feeling that the 
Committee have now to record the death of Lady Colquhoun, 
of Luss, who for several years has acted as Treasurer to the 
Ladies' Auxiliary Association in connection with this Society. 
They are deeply sensible that the event is felt by the religious 
world to be a public loss. The influence of Lady Colquhoun' s 
holy and consistent life ; the character of her writings, uniting 
spirituality of tone, and faithfulness in sentiment, with mental 
acuteness and elegance of diction ; the munificence of her 
offerings to the cause of Christ, which was ever dear to her ; 



292 LIFE OF LADY COLGlUHOUN. 

Tall and dignified, with an ample and intel- 
lectual forehead, and with beautiful Grecian 

and, above all, the efficacy of her fervent prayers, combined 
to render her at once the ornament of her numerous circle of 
friends, and an esteemed and truly valuable member of the 
Church of Christ. The removal of one who, in the providence 
and by the grace of God, occupied such a position, especially 
at such a time, is an occurrence which cannot fail solemnly 
to affect the minds of all who are concerned for the cause of 
truth. 

" ' But the Committee feel that then province is specially 
to regard this event in its bearing on the Gaelic School So- 
ciety. It is with melancholy interest they record the lively 
and affectionate concern uniformly evinced by Lady Colqu- 
houn for the prosperity of this Institution. In its times of 
difficulty and trial she was its faithful, zealous, self-denying, 
devoted friend. "When it pleased the Lord to vouchsafe to 
its efforts any marked tokens of his countenance and bless- 
ing, such tidings were ever to her the occasion of humble 
gratitude and praise. The Society received largely of her 
bounty, and no doubt was often the subject of her prayers. 
Reflecting on the high place which she was enabled to oc- 
cupy, the Committee feel that in her removal by the hand 
of Providence, one of their chief earthly props has been taken 
away. 

"'But it is the Lord's hand which has smitten. He is 
teaching by this event to " cease from man," and to look with 
undivided reliance to his grace and power.. He will graciously 
maintain his own cause, and command the light to shine even 
out of darkness. The Committee would, therefore, while 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 293 

features, lighted up by a fine complexion and 
an eye mildly penetrating, there was something 

feeling the stroke, desire to go on with their humble labors, 
encouraging themselves in the Lord. In the meantime, they 
would take comfort in reflecting on the well-grounded hope 
which they are warranted to cherish regarding their valued 
and lamented friend. And while they pray that thi3 solemn 
event may be sanctified to themselves and to all who knew the 
Christian worth and zeal of Lady Colquhoun, they fervently 
trust that the Lord will be pleased specially to bless it to her 
sorrowing family and relatives. To them the bereavement 
is, humanly speaking, irreparable. But their sorrow may well 
be turned into joy, for it is written, " Blessed are the dead 
which die in the Lord, from henceforth : yea, saith the Spirit, 
that they may rest from their labors ; and their works do 
follow them." ' " 

The same event was thus noticed in the Report on Female 
Education in India : — 

" During the past year, not a few of those who once were 
distinguished associates with us in this great enterprise, whose 
tenderest sympathies were long ago aroused for the manifold 
sorrows of the daughters of India, and whose delight it was 
to devise and to prosecute plans which should ensure their 
complete and final redemption from all their woes, have 
ceased to be engaged in such occupations on earth. Lady 
Colquhoun, of Luss, one of your Society's earliest and most 
highly-valued friends, with whose enlightened Christian 
counsels and prevailing intercessions it was for long so emi- 
nently favored ; and Major John St. Clair Jameson, of Bombay, 
whose honored name is associated in the minds of so many in 

25* 



294 LIFE OF LADY COLQXHOUN. 

peculiarly prepossessing in the youthful appear- 
ance of Lady Colquhoun. A total absence of 

this country, with their first feelings of commiseration for 
the fate of their afflicted sisters in the East, as well as other 
less distinguished, but not less devoted Mends of the cause, 
have within the last few months rested from their labors and 
entered upon their reward. 

" Regarding the elevated character of the late lamented 
Patroness (Lady Colquhoun), the Committee feel that it would 
be superfluous now to remark. The distinguished gifts she 
possessed, which all were consecrated to the noblest and best 
of purposes ; her matured graces, which served so eminently 
to adorn the doctrine of her God and Saviour, — these were 
well known and appreciated in the Churches while she was 
yet here, and will long be cherished hi the fond remembrance 
of many, now that she is gone. But the Committee are 
assured that the following brief extract from the last letter 
written to your agent at Calcutta by their revered departed 
friend, indicating, as it does, the views and feelings she enter- 
tained regarding India during her last days on earth, will be 
regarded as possessing peculiar interest by all the members 
of the Society : — 

"'I would wish to encourage the hope that there is a 
blessing in store for India, The windows of heaven seem 
opening; put in your claim for a share of the refreshing 
shower. Hope on ! Wait on ! Urge and work on ! After 
toil, rest is sweet ; and the rest that remains for the people 
of God will be most welcome to those who have borne the 
burden and heat of the day; " 

To which must be added an extract from the Sixth Ad- 



LIFE OF LADY COLGIUHOUN, 295 

affectation superadded the perfecting charm of 
a sweet unconsciousness. Her elevated mind 
and graceful manners were instinct with femi- 
nine refinement and inherent nobility; and 
though in later years her complexion had faded 
and her figure stooped, there came the more 
brightly forth the reassuring gentleness, the 
delicate consideration, and the tact in diffusing 
happiness, which are among the loveliest at- 
tributes of the Christian lady. 

The basis of her natural goodness was 
truth. Even before it was hallowed into " godly 
sincerity/ 5 her disposition was unusually open 
and candid : and after she had learned to live 

dress of the Ladies' Society in Scotland in Aid of the Home 
Mission of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland : — - 

" We cannot close this Report without alluding to the loss 
•which our Society has sustained in the removal, by death, of 
its much-respected Patroness, Lady Colquhoun. To her this 
Society chiefly owed its origin. In her death, the cause of 
the Home Mission may be said to have lost, in Scotland, its 
oldest and most influential friend. Besides defraying the 
College expenses of one of the converts now training for the 
ministry (Mr. Kugan), she ever contributed readily with her 
means to the numerous demands of the Mission in other ways. 
The want of her generous support and Christian counsel in 
the management of this Society will be long and deeply 
felt/' <kc, <fec. 



296 LIFE OF LADY COLQXHOUN. 

in the recollection. — " Thou, God, seest me/' 
she became studiously exact and scrupulous. 
It was not only that she forbade her servants 
to use the fashionable equivocation. '-'Not at 
home.' 5 but all her intercourse and correspond- 
ence were pervaded by a most rigid adherence 
to the rule of " Yea. yea, and N ay, nay." 
And this elaborate truthfulness reacted on all 
her character. It materially promoted her 
self-knowledge, and contributed to her growth 
in grace. And the blessed consciousness that 
she had never wilfully flattered or maligned, 
enabled her to mingle in all society with a 
cheerful security and a good-will as obvious as 
it was genuine. Nor was she " afraid of evil 
tidings. Her heart was fixed, trusting in the 
Lord/ 5 

The steps by which she was brought to the 
knowledge of the Saviour, have been traced in 
the foregoing pages ; but as a brief review of 
her religious experience, and as an expression 
of her matured feelings and sentiments very 
near the close of life, we are sure the reader 
will peruse with interest the following letter. 
It was addressed to a faithful minister in the 
Highlands, towards the erection of whose 



LIFE OF LADY COLaUHOUN 297 

church she had previously contributed, and is 
dated Oct. 28, 1S45 :— 

" My dear Sir, — I know not how to refuse 
the request made in your letter, which I re- 
ceived a short time since ; and yet I am as- 
sured nothing but misconception on your part 
could have induced you to make it. I am to 
tell you l my sentiments and feelings when 
Jehovah causes the light of his face to shine 
on me.' Alas ! alas ! how rare is this ! And 
I am to say what are my l - views and feelings 
when, in chastisement, His face is hid.' Here, 
also, I am at fault ; for I know little of the 
heights and depths to which so many of God's 
people are subjected. I have been led in green 
pastures, and beside the still waters. One 
thing I have learned, and from the bottom of 
my heart I feel it, — my utter nothingness. 
But do not think my speaking thus is the sign 
of deep humility. Ah ! no. I am sensible 
you will not think the worse of me for saying 
so* I fear to write of myself, — I cannot, with- 
out sin. I may write, then, of my Saviour ; 
there is a theme upon which I need not dread 
to enlarge. And I can with truth say, that 



298 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

each step in my journey through life leads me, 
with more undivided confidence, to rest on 
Him alone, without reference to anything else 
but His finished work. 

" ' Nothing in my hand I bring, 
Simply to thy cross I cling ; 
Naked, come to thee for dress ; 
Helpless, look to thee for grace ; 
Foul, I to the Fountain fly ; 
Wash me, Saviour ! or I die/ 

" I have been led very gradually and gently 
in the divine life. I never knew the pangs of 
the new birth ; and at first had slight views of 
the depravity of the heart, or of the need of 
salvation by Christ. These things were more 
articles of my creed than the conviction of the 
soul. I believed them chiefly because the Bible 
told me they were true. But years have 
supervened, and proof that the heart is deceit- 
ful above all things and desperately wicked 
has not been awanting ; and hence, if saved at 
all, I now feel it must be by grace through 
faith. One thing, I believe, is rather singular 
in my experience, — that I was more induced 
to devote myself to God by the beauty of the 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 299 

Divine character, and the lovely precepts of the 
Gospel, than by any other consideration. And 
still, when I can get but a glimpse of these 
things in anything like their transcendent 
glory, my heart is fixed. But I dare not go on 
in this strain. I am much afraid you will 
think me very different from what I am. I 
have wandered from my subject. I was going 
to write of the Saviour. I think, then, the 
Apostle Peter is very happy in the expression 
w T hen he calls him l precious.' What so pre- 
cious as that which we cannot have a moment's 
peace without ? What so precious as that in 
which perfection dwells, — where beauty alone 
shines ? Or, what is of equal value to us with 
the God-man, who saves us from everlasting 
perdition, and makes us { partakers of His 
holiness V These are common-place and well- 
known truths ; but we need to be reminded of 
them ; and, ah ! how slightly are they im- 
pressed upon the heart ! Yet still — still we 
must say, however listlessly and feebly, Christ 
is precious ! Many, I know, say it with more 
devout affections than I can do, But say so I 
must and will, as He Himself shall enable me. 
He must take my heart ; I cannot give it Him. 



300 LIFE OF LADY COLQ.XJHOUN. 

You, my dear Sir, have a high honor assigned 
to you in having the everlasting Gospel to 
preach, Let not your hands hang down ; you 
have a noble cause, a good Master, and assur- 
ance of some measure, at least, of success. I 
believe ministers are often little aware of the 
effect of their preaching. I knew 7 a man of 
God, now in his grave, or rather, I should say 7 
now before the throne, (Dr. Buchanan, of the 
Canongate,) w T ho told me that he had just 
heard of one who had died in the Lord, and 
mentioned, on his death-bed, that Dr. B.'s 
preaching had been the means of his conversion 
tw r enty years before ; and all that time he was 
ignorant of the circumstance. When very 
young, Dr. B. was of great use to myself; but 
I dared not have told him so for long after. I 
have now, as far as I know it, and according to 
my ability, complied with your request. May 
not I, with equal reason, expect that a word 
from you will benefit me ? But I do not wish to 
tax you. I know the many calls you must have 
upon your time, and I, too, have sometimes 
as much writing as I can well accomplish." 

The pervading element in her piety was an 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 301 

adoring attachment to this Divine Redeemer. 
The desire to see his cause triumphant in the 
world impelled her efforts in the many Societies 
of which she was an assiduous member, Re- 
gard for his honor prompted all the more im- 
portant actions of her later life. The hope of 
introducing* others to his transforming friend- 
ship made her personally and with the pen, in 
books and in conversation, in cottage visits and 
in exalted society, "instant in season and out 
of season." And the belief that they belonged 
to the Saviour endeared to her obscure or im- 
perfect Christians, just as the perception of ear- 
nestness in his service drew her regard towards 
ministers of ordinary gifts, and made her a do- 
cile or delighted listener to sermons which 
would have been reckoned common-place by 
hearers more fastidious or less fervent. And 
closely allied to this was her unusual confidence 
in prayer. It was one of the sisters at Bethany 
who said to Jesus, " Lord, if thou hadst been 
here, my brother had not died. But I know, 
that even, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God 
will give it thee." And the subject of this rec- 
ord had a confidence in the Saviour's grace and 
power akin to that of Martha, and for a similar 
26 



302 LIFE OF LADY COLQXHOUN. 

reason. — she had a like affection. In every- 
thing*,, by prayer and supplication, she made 
known her requests : and her diary abounds 
in notices of answered prayer. 

"Ye are the light of the world/' The be- 
liever fulfils his exalted function when, filled 
with the Divine Spirit, he so acts that in his 
graciousness men are reminded of the grace 
of God. ;; Let it shine." and "let it so shine 
that men may see your good works, and glo- 
rify your Father in heaven/' The piety of 
Lady Colquhoun was spontaneous, effusive, 
evenly, like a lamp abundantly replenished ; 
and its bright spirituality at once reminded 
the beholder of its heavenly Source. And we 
know not that we can better describe what 
manner of person she was in this respect, than 
by copying the words of her own minister, and 
those of her eldest brother. 

" It has been my privilege/ 5 says the Rev. 
Neil Stewart. " to converse with not a few per- 
sons of Christian character ; but I have not 
received the same pleasure or benefit from all. 
In conversing with some. I have felt my affec- 
tions restrained, my spirits depressed; and a 
painful feeling of discontent predominating in 



LIFE OF LADY CQLQUHOUN. 303 

my mind. But I never left Lady Colquhoun 
without feeling my affections purified, my 
heart warmed, and my spirit raised in humble 
thankfulness to God for his goodness, and in 
earnest desire to be conformed to his image, 
and to do all things to his glory. This, I am 
persuaded, was the result of the peculiar char- 
acter of her piety, which was alike devoid of 
that asceticism which contracts the affections, 
and that enthusiasm which impairs the judg- 
ment. Like one of her favorite authors, John 
Howe, she dwelt with much delight on the 
character and attributes of God as revealed in 
the face of Jesus Christ, and by the habitual 
contemplation of them it seemed as if she 
were more and more conformed to the same 
image." 

And to his niece, Sir George Sinclair writes : 
" I look back with unfeigned satisfaction on 
all my personal intercourse with my beloved 
sister, because I am quite certain that we 
never exchanged a hasty word, and never 
harbored towards each other an unkind feeling, 
even for a single moment. Her piety was en- 
tirely free from moroseness or gloom. She 
was never highly elevated, and never unduly 



304 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHO UN. 

depressed. Though always dignified, her 
manner was often playful. She did not exact 
from others a strict and undeviating observ- 
ance of the rules which she laid down for her 
own guidance, and though uncompromising as 
to all principles of grave importance, she was 
always inclined to the side of lenity and in- 
dulgence when she differed from others in 
matters of minor moment. You are aware 
with what enthusiastic strength of zeal and 
conviction she espoused the interests of the 
Free Church : and yet she always discussed 
that very exciting question with me (who had 
reluctantly, but conscientiously, remained con- 
nected with the Established Church) in a 
spirit of charity and forbearance which is 
much more frequently enforced than exempli- 
fied. On the whole, I have never seen any 
character so blameless and harmless and with- 
out rebuke ; so free from infirmities, and so 
adorned by virtues. She lived much with her 
Saviour in prayer, which is the surest resource 
for being enabled to live like him in daily con- 
versation/' 

Thus devoted and thus endowed, it was her 
blessedness to accomplish much for that Re- 



LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUX. 305 

deemer whom she loved so ardently and fol- 
lowed so affectionately. In the nearest circle 
of her kindred, in her own household, amongst 
her younger and older neighbors, to the poor of 
other places, to casual visitors, she was the 
source of incalculable benefits. Irrespective of 
her munificent contributions and unwearying 
exertions in the cause of Christian Philan- 
thropy, the friends of the Gospel felt a perpet- 
ual solace in her presence, and were comforted 
to think that in the most polished society was 
exhibited such a specimen of pure and consist- 
ent piety. Her light shone to the last, and 
was brightest at the end ; and her Father in 
heaven was glorified. 

Like Hannah and Jessie Sinclair, we invite 
our younger readers to choose " that better 
part, which shall not be taken from thera ; rj 
assuring them that, if at the foot of the Cross 
they lay down some things that are brilliant, 
they will there obtain in return all that is 
beautiful. When these happy sisters found the 
Saviour they did not lose their taste for intel- 
lectual enjoyments, nor their zeal for personal 
improvement ; but they found a Friend all-wise 
and ever present, who in scenes of anxiety kept 
26* 



306 LIFE OF LADY COLQUHOUN. 

them calm and recollected, and in the midst of 
flattery preserved them sober-minded ; and 
who, along with the forgiveness of sin, im- 
parted to their character a depth and a delicacy 
which cannot be derived from courtly rales or 
the most careful up-bringing. In their paral- 
lel history is seen how gracefully with feminine 
refinement may be combined homely duties and 
labors of practical beneficence ; and it pro- 
claims once more how essential to eminent 
piety are self-knowledge, watchfulness, and 
prayer. And surely in the blessed confidence 
that through His interposition lives so lovely 
have been once more united, we have another 
reason for loving and adoring that Redeemer 
who has already transferred so much of earth 
to heaven. 

They have been brought ^rith gladness great, 

And mirth on ev'ry side, 
Into the palace of the King, 

And there they shall abide. 



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